Now You See Me
by AzureFirehawk
Summary: Life has an interesting way of making wishes come true. She wants to be seen. He wants to see. Both wishes are granted, but not how either of them suspected
1. To See and Be Seen

"Remember to make a wish."

Every year, the same words.

"I know mom. I gotta think of something."

It was a lie. She already knew what she would wish for. But she would play along, waiting an appropriate amount of time before taking a deep breath and blowing out the candles.

"What'd you wish for, sweety?"

"Dad, you know I can't tell you. It won't come true if I do that."

His grin widened as he rested his hand on her head, just a little off center, and ruffled her hair. "Never hurts to ask, does it?"

The girl shared a laugh with her parents as the cake was cut and passed. Their conversation moved on quickly as her dad shared stories from work and her mom gushed about the children she taught. It was a routine, one she was comfortable with. It was easy for her to be the upbeat, bubbly girl her parents had raised.

"Mom, dad, mind if I excuse myself? I still have a bit of homework I need to get done."

Her mother smiled at her. "Of course. Dad and I will clean up, so don't worry about that."

She took a moment to give her parents a hug and kiss goodnight before heading upstairs. There was a soft click as the lock on her door slid into place. After habitually testing the door handle, the girl slipped out of her clothes, laying them neatly atop her dresser before gently sliding her window open.

"I'll tell them next year," she muttered to herself as she stepped out into the warm summer night. The shingles were rough on her feet, but it was nothing she wasn't used to. "It'd be so much easier if they could just look me in the eye."

She arrived at her usual perch, laying back against the warm roof and gazing up at the stars. This was the final part of her annual ritual. With a breath to steady herself, she whispered the words that had been repeated in her mind for years.

"I wish someone could see me."

And with that, Tooru cried.

* * *

His hand fumbled across the nightstand, searching for the blaring alarm clock only to knock it onto the floor. Pressing his face into his pillow, he groaned loudly, straining to reach the beeping abomination.

"Izuku?" Inko's voice came in from the hallway. "Is everything ok in there?"

A second groan escaped him as he lifted his head. "Yeah, mom. Everything's fine. I just dropped my alarm clock." 'Again.'

Finally, after a few more seconds of grumbling and feeling around, blessed silence filled the room. Izuku breathed a sigh of relief before pulling his covers off him and moving to a sitting position at the edge of his bed.

Still slightly groggy, he shuffled his way to the bathroom door, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He pressed his hand to the wall, sliding it up until he reached the dual switch there. After a brief hesitation, he flipped on the fan.

A few minutes later, Izuku stepped out into the hallway. Immediately the smell of fresh toast and the sound of sizzling eggs hit him. He couldn't stop the smile that followed.

"Smells amazing, Mom." He felt her turn towards him as he stepped into the kitchen, reaching for the handle on the fridge. It was a minor struggle, but he managed to pour himself a glass of milk.

"I hope you don't mind, but I may have added a little more cheese to your eggs than usual this time." His mother's smile sounded almost sheepish.

He just smiled back in her direction. "It's ok, really." He sniffed at the food when he felt his mom turn away. "A little more than usual" was putting it lightly, but it didn't seem like it'd be unbearable.

His tongue disagreed.

While the milk and toast helped, Izuku had a feeling he'd be tasting cheddar for the rest of the day.

The humming from his watch broke their morning chatter, alerting them both that he would need to leave soon for school. After helping his mom clear the table, he gave her a quick hug and a peck on the cheek, then turned to grab his bag and shoes.

"Be careful on your way to school," Inko called. "Are you sure you have everything you need?"

His smile returned briefly. "Yes, Mom. I have everything."

He could hear her smile in return. "Okay. I love you, Izu~"

"I love you, too."

With that, Izuku pulled open the front door and opened his eyes.

* * *

"Deku."

The green-haired boy looked up, stopping his muttering. "O-oh. Hi, Kacchan." The smile on his face tugged at Katsuki's heart, bringing the guilt he'd keep hidden for years dangerously close to the surface. "Y-you ready for the t-test today?"

The blonde huffed, pushing the guilt away. "Of course I am." He forced a grin onto his face. "And you better be, too. Especially if you still want to go to UA."

Izuku's grin widened. "You know it. Even if I can't get into the hero course, their general studies program is still nothing to sneeze at."

"Then we better get going." Katsuki turned and started off in the direction of their school, barely hiding the tears forming in his eyes. "Can't pass the test is we're gonna be late."

'Why did he have to say that with a smile?' he thought, gritting his teeth as they walked. 'I know he forgave me already, but…dammit, I still can't forgive myself.'

" _Shut up, Deku," he growled. "I don't need a quirkless loser like you looking down on me."_

 _A small explosion burst from his palm as he shoved the other child back. Izuku cried out before landing on his back, head hitting a rock sticking out of the creek bed._

" _See, you can't even protect yourself from…" Katsuki's words trailed off, eyes widening. A small trickle of red was flowing down the side of the rock and into the water._

 _Everything was a blur from there. He remembered someone carrying his friend away. He remembered the sirens as his parents followed the ambulance to the hospital. He remembered his friend lying on a white bed, bandages all around his head._

 _As young as Katsuki was, he didn't understand everything the doctor said to his mom and Auntie Inko. There was just one phrase that echoed in his mind._

" _...your son is blind."_

* * *

The final bell rang through the school, signaling the end of classes and the start of the weekend, and Tooru could not get out of that building fast enough. The warm spring air felt glorious and she took a moment to bask in the unobstructed sunlight before making her way home.

As she walked, she swung her bag around and pulled out her phone, checking for any messages she may have missed while in class. Nothing important there, aside from her parents telling her they would be home late that evening. Tooru sighed with relief at the revelation; she now had the freedom to head to the park and relax before heading home.

So that's exactly what she did.

The park was her haven. There, she could lay out in the sun, read, do homework, you name it. But the best part about the park was the people. No one cared that she was invisible. In fact, most people kept to themselves, minding their own business while others minded theirs.

This isn't to say that she hated being around her loved her school friends. She knew they accepted her for who she was, invisible or not. But for some reason, she never felt fully comfortable. The friendly jokes, the "I'm sorry, I didn't see you there" comments, the eye contact that was always just a little bit off. She knew it wasn't or meant to be harmful mean-spirited.

It still hurt, though.

Her thoughts continued this way as her feet followed the familiar path to the park. But then she turned a corner.

And walked face first into something green.


	2. Clear as Day

"Oww, geez…"

Tooru pushed herself upright, rubbing her forehead to sooth the dull ache growing there.

"I-I'm so s-sorry," a nervous voice mumbled to her side. "I d-didn't hear you coming…"

"I-it's fine," she sighed as she moved into a proper sitting position. "I guess I can be easy to miss, huh?" As she spoke, she noticed the boy turn in her direction, tilting his head slightly as if confused. "You know, 'cause I'm invisible and all…?"

There was a brief pause before the boy grinned and nodded, giving something of a nervous chuckle. "Y-yeah, I guess that'd do it…"

The boy reached for his backpack, patting the ground twice before his hand landed on the strap and he pulled it to him. 'Did I hit his eye or something when we collided?' Tooru figured she shouldn't just stare and reached behind her, relieved to feel her bag had stayed on her shoulder in the fall.

A soft groan caught her attention and she turned back to the other kid. "It couldn't have fallen out, since the zipper is still closed. It's not in my pocket either. The only option is that it fell out on the way here? Maybe it's still under the tree or something…" Tooru quirked an eyebrow, slightly amused at his speed mumbling.

"Hey." The boy kept going. She giggled, then tapped his shoulder lightly. "Hey!"

"AHH!" He jumped at the contact, turning towards her and clutching his bag before opening his eyes and relaxing a little.

She suppressed another giggle. "Did you lose something? If you need help finding it…"

"O-oh, yeah." The boy rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "Yeah, I-I'm pretty sure I left my phone a-at the park…"

Tooru grinned. "Well, I'm actually heading that way right now. Want a hand?"

A relieved smile lit up the boys face, making his freckles even more pronounced. "Th-that would be great. I-if you don't mind, that is…"

She pushed herself to her feet, offering her gloved hand to help the boy up. "Hey, it's the least I could do..." her voice trailed off as the boy stood, pulling his arms through the straps of his bags. 'Did he just ignore-'

That's when she noticed his eyes.

Eye contact was a rare thing for Tooru. Not that she could blame anyone; people would try, but were usually off by a couple of centimeters.

This boy, however, was _way_ off the mark. It was almost as if…

"He's blind…"

The boy flinched slightly, making Tooru do the same as she realized he'd heard her. "Y-yeah, I'm… I'm blind…"

"I-I'm sor-"

He waved off her coming apology. "No, no, it's fine." His smile grew. "It's not like its an obvious thing."

It took her a moment to realize what he meant, then she noticed his eyes. The usual faded color or milkiness associated with blindness wasn't there. Instead, his eyes were a bright emerald. The only tell would be the fact that he didn't look directly at her when speaking. She couldn't help but laugh a little. "I guess you're right. I mean, it took me a good while to notice, and I pride myself on being perceptive."

His smile grew as he laughed with her. "It probably helps when no one knows you're watching." The laughter continued for a few moments before the boy coughed awkwardly. "I uh...d-don't suppose you'd be ok g-guiding me?"

Tooru could swear she saw a slight blush on the boy's face. "Uh, sure. I-it'd be rude not to, right." Without thinking, she took the boys hand and started heading down the alley towards the park.

"Y-you know, I-I can j-just...h-hold on to y-your shoulder…"

If she wasn't completely invisible, Tooru knew her face would have been redder than a stop sign. 'The hell was I thinking, grabbing his hand like that!?'

* * *

The walk to the park couldn't have taken more than a few minutes, but for Izuku, it felt much longer. Here he was, hand on a girl's shoulder, walking to the park. Nothing out of the ordinary. It's not like she has a cute voice or anything.

The girl stiffened slightly, causing Izuku's heart to seize slightly. 'Did I say that out loud?' When he felt her roll her shoulder under his hand he realized she was just stretching and barely stopped himself from breathing a sigh of relief.

"Y-you know," his voice cut through the silence between them. "I probably should have asked your name back there."

He felt her laugh more than he heard it. "You're fine. I'm Hagakure Tooru." Her voice reflected her smile. "I could have asked, too, you know."

"Y-yeah, I guess you're right." He rubbed the back of his head in slight embarrassment. "I'm Midoriya, by the way. Midoriya Izuku."

The sounds around him shifted as they left the buildings, opening up to reveal the trees and bushes of the local park. Hagakure was slightly bouncing with excitement, and he couldn't help but smile at her enthusiasm.

* * *

"Ok, so where do you think you left your phone?" she asked, turning slightly to face him.

Midoriya tilted his head slightly, listening. "Um... " He turned, pulling the girl with him slightly. I spent most of time over here…" The two continued walking in the direction he indicated. Tooru could hear him clicking his tongue as he seemed to look around the park. 'Nervous habit?'

As they approached one of the larger oak trees in the middle of the grass he stopped them. "I thi- We're by a tree, right?"

'How did he…?' "Uh, y-yeah…" Tooru replied. "I, uh...Is this your phone?"

"Green All Might case?"

She nodded. "Yep." As she stood, she swiped the phone open, quickly putting in her number and calling herself, ending the call as soon as she felt her own phone vibrate. The boy had his hand out, a smile on his face.

"Thank you again, Hagakure," Midoriya sighed as she placed the phone in his hand. "It would have taken a lot longer finding it on my own."

Tooru quirked an eyebrow. "Well you certainly knew how to get back here," she said, curiosity filling her voice. The boy blushed. "How did you even do that."

"I-I uh…" he stammered a bit, obviously a little uncomfortable at the question.

She realized her mistake in an instant and started waving her arms in apology. "S-sorry, I didn't mean it like that. It's just that you seem to get around really well for a blind guy, and I was kinda surprised at that and-"

His laughter cut her off. "Hagakure, you're fine." The boy's smile brought out his freckles even more. "You're not wrong, though. I get around better than I probably should. It's just…" the uncomfortable look was back, "I-I never really know how to explain it…"

Tooru was very grateful that he couldn't see the blush forming on her face. "Oh, w-well then maybe you can explain it to me some other time? I….kinda maybe used your phone to give me your number…"

Midoriya froze, his face paling before flushing bright red. "O-oh that… ok w-well then I…" He took a deep breath to steady himself. "Wow, I-I've never had th-that happen before…" A nervous chuckle escaped his lips. Then he felt his wrist and froze. "Ah crap, I gotta go. SorryHagakureandthanksagainforhelpingmefindmyphone…"

Tooru could only smile as she watched the boy hurry away. A minute passed before she sunk down against the tree. "Holy shit, Tooru! What was that? You just met the guy and gave him your number without asking!?" She hit her head against the trunk of the tree a few times as she mentally berated herself. "Well, hopefully he won't think too much of it…"

* * *

"Holy crap I actually talked to a girl!" Izuku's grin hadn't faded one bit since leaving the park. "I talked to a girl and she gave me her number and she even sounded kinda cute." He paused briefly just outside the door to his apartment. "Wait, I totally forgot to ask about her quirk," he groaned, slapping his forehead in frustration. "Well I guess I can ask another time… Not like i can really take notes without using my braille typer…"

The door was unlocked, telling him his mom was home. He pushed it open and kicked off his shoes. "I'm home!"

"Welcome home, dear," his mother called from the kitchen. "Dinner should be ready soon."

He smiled, taking in a deep breath and sighing as the smell of stir fry filled his nostrils. "I'll be in my room."

As the door closed behind him, Izuku felt his phone go off in his pocket. "New message from UNKNOWN SENDER."

"Play," he said, triggering the voice activation on the device.

The automated voice emanated from his pocket. "Hey, Midoriya, it's Hagakure. Just making sure you got my number. It was nice meeting you today."

"Izuku?" Inko's voice reverberated through the door. "Who was that?"

The smile on his face stretched wide. "It's a friend, Mom. I made a new friend today."


	3. It All Melds Together

Sunlight streamed through the small gap in the blinds, drawing a thin line of optic pain directly over the invisible girl's eyes. Tooru rolled onto her side with a groan, pulling the pillow over her head to escape the lumenous assault.

The only issue with this was that now she could see her alarm clock.

A yelp reverberated through the room as sheets, covers, and a plush dog were thrown aside as Tooru sprinted to the bathroom. 'No, nonono I can't be late again!' In record time she had shed her sleepwear and started the shower, opting to brush her teeth simultaneously.

Her short hair was still damp as she rushed to the kitchen, packing a quick to-go breakfast and lunch, then shouting "gottagototrainingbebacklaterbye" before sprinting out the front door. Her pace didn't slow until she arrived at her train, barely making it before the doors closed behind her.

To her good fortune, there were very few people riding the train today, so she had plenty of room to collapse in a seat and eat her breakfast.

Thirty minutes later, the train gently came to a stop. Tooru realized she'd nearly fallen back to sleep after finishing her sandwich, so she made sure to grab a small cup of coffee at the small cafe before leaving the station behind.

The walk to her trainer's gym was a pleasant one as usual. Open streets lined with trees allowed copious amounts of sunlight through, yet provided adequate shade to escape the summer heat. With the clearness of the day, Tooru couldn't help but be in a good mood as she made her way down the sidewalk.

"Good morning, Ms. Fushiki," she called, pushing open the door of the small gym, the bell on the door tinkling lightly.

The woman in question looked up from the small table in the back corner, brushing a strand of bright red hair out of her face and giving Tooru a bright smile. "Well if it isn't my favorite student. You were almost late again."

The invisible girl felt herself flush. "I'm sorry, Sensei. I promise I learned my lesson from last time." She bowed as a sign of sincerity, making her teacher laugh.

"I know you did," Ms. Fushiki replied, waving off the unnecessary apology. "Now go ahead and change into your suit. We need to get going as soon as possible."

This caused Tooru to pause as she stuffed her bag into one of the lockers along the back wall. "We're not training here?"

The smile on Ms. Fushiki's face did nothing to help the invisible girl's nervousness. "Nope. Today we are going to do a field test. See how well you can apply what I've taught you so far."

* * *

The walls of the near-empty waiting room seemed to amplify everything around them. The

ticking of the clock, the creaking of chairs whenever someone shifted. Even his breathing seemed louder than usual in the enclosed space.

"Midoriya?" a voice called from the now open doorway across the room. "You can come on back now."

Mother and son made their way across the waiting room, Izuku's hand resting on his mom's arm to make sure he didn't run into anything. Passing through the door, they followed the nurse a short distance before arriving at the designated observation room.

"Ok, so today is going to be a little different," the nurse said, her smile very evident in her voice. "I'm going to take your vitals really quick, just like normal. However, Dr. Hashimoto is running a little behind right now, so we'll be taking your MRI as soon as we finish with the vitals here." Izuku nodded in understanding, and after a minute or two he was following the nurse down the hallway to the MRI room.

The nurse handed him a standard hospital gown, ushering him into the nearby bathroom so he could change in private. Locking the door behind him, Izuku sighed, taking a deep breath before shedding his clothing. "I wonder if they'll find anything new. Last time we couldn't stay around for the scan results, so maybe there's been a change? Maybe I'm getting better…" His hopeful muttering continued through the entire changing process and even back into the hallway, only stopping when the nurse rested her hand on his shoulder and led him into the scanning room.

"You know the drill, just lie as still as you can."

* * *

He knew his mom was laughing silently at him as he bounced up and down in his chair, but he couldn't help it. He was just too excited.

"Well, well, well," a deep voice filled the room as the door opened. "Glad you were able to stay for the results this time." Izuku's bouncing slowed until it was barely noticeable, but the smile on his face only grew. Dr. Hashimoto was obviously excited as well, but he did his best to contain it as he attached the images from the scan to the light board on the wall.

The doctor pulled out his stool and took a seat, facing the family. "As you know, over these past few years, we've been monitoring Izuku's brain activity and development. His initial accident at the age of 4 left him with significant damage to his visual cortex, resulting in his current blindness." The boy's smile diminished slightly, but his excitement did not. "We told you before how this could possibly result in a phenomenon called 'Blindsight,' where his eyes are still functioning but his brain isn't able to create a true image." Inko nodded, remembering the conversations of that day.

Dr. Hashimoto stood, pointing out a few spots on the MRI images, explaining how they had requested to continue monitoring Izuku's brain development. The amount of damage he'd sustained made his "version" of blindsight a rather unique case.

"Recently, however, we've noticed something very odd." This caught Izuku's ear, causing him to still and turn all his attention to the man. "While his visual cortex is still mostly destroyed, his brain seems to have been…adjusting." He felt his mom shift next to him, obviously wanting to say something. "It seems that in the past few years, his somatosensory and auditory cortices have expanded and joined with some of the visual pathways that were still intact."

Inko's voice cut in, sounding slightly confused. "So, what does all this mean exactly?" Izuku nodded along, equally curious.

The doctor sighed. "We can't say for certain. As far as I'm aware, this has never happened before." The green-haired boy felt an odd sense of pride at that, knowing he was unique in at least one way. "Our best guess is that his brain is trying to turn sound and touch into sight."

Izuku felt his breath caught in his throat. "You mean…" Tears welled in his eyes. "You mean I…"

"It'd take practice, and probably a lot of patience," the doctor's smile filled his voice, "but I'm fairly certain you could learn to see in your own way."

Nothing could stop Izuku from crying at those words.

* * *

"Well, Hagakure, I have to say I'm impressed."

Training hadn't been nearly as intensive as Tooru had feared. Sure it was difficult, and resulted in a few close calls ("I almost had a book shoved into my crotch. Can we please leave the library now?"), but all in all she felt really good about her performance. "Well, I have been learning from the best."

Ms. Fushiki smiled and ruffled the invisible girl's hair. "Helps that you're such a fast learner. Hopefully you can keep it up when we get more into hand-to-hand."

Their small talk continued until the pair reached the gym. Tooru quickly changed into her regular clothes, bowed to her teacher, and stepped back out onto the sidewalk.

The sun was getting lower in the sky, allowing the day to cool off somewhat. The girl took a deep breath of the summer air, smiling to herself as she stretched out a bit of her soreness before making her way to the train station.

As she neared, her eyes landed on a familiar face, complete with wild green hair and freckles.

"Midoriya!"

The boy turned, as if looking for the source of the voice. "H-Hagakure?" he asked.

"Who, Izuku?" Tooru paused, finally noticing the short green-haired woman next to her new friend.

"O-oh. Mom, this is my friend, Hagakure," Izuku explained, gesturing towards the girl. "She helped me find my phone a few days ago when I left it at the park on accident."

Tooru couldn't help but smile, bouncing slightly. "It's nice to meet you, Mrs. Midoriya."

Izuku's mom smiled in return. "Oh just call me Inko, dear." The lady extended her hand, which Tooru took. "Izuku's told me a bit about you."

"Only the bad parts," Izuku explained with a smirk, making the girl giggle.

"We're just heading home for dinner," Inko explained, grabbing the girl's attention. "We'd love for you to join us if you want."

Tooru froze briefly, seeing Izuku do the same. "Umm… I-I'm not sure…" She fidgeted nervously. "I'd have to check with my parents."

The older woman nodded understandingly. "Of course, dear. Our train won't be here for a little while yet."

Reaching into her pocket, the invisible girl pulled out her phone and took a few steps away from the boy and his mother. With a few swipes and taps, she held the device to her ear, listening to the dial tone.

No answer.

Nothing new.

"Hey, Mom. Hey, Dad. It's me. I'm going to be having dinner at a friend's house tonight. I'll be sure to be home before it gets too late." With a sigh, she hung up and pocketed her phone, turning back to the Midoiyas.

Izuku heard her approach and quickly stopped muttering, a small flush present on his face. Inko simply smiled expectantly, not quite making eye contact.

"They said it'd be fine, just as long as I'm not out too late," Tooru said, doing her best to sound cheerful.

Inko's smile brightened. "That's wonderful. We're so happy you could join us."

The girl smiled sadly. "As am I."


	4. Before the Dawn

"Well, here we are," Inko said with a smile, leading the way into the small apartment. "Izuku, you can show your friend around. I'll call you when dinner is ready."

"Thank you again for having me," Tooru called as the green-haired woman retreated towards the kitchen.

Next to her, Izuku shuffled nervously as he kicked off his shoes, laying them on the mat just next to the doorway. "So, uh… I-I guess we can j-just hang out in the living room…" his voice trailed off.

Tooru, for her part, felt just as awkward. It had been a while since she'd been at a friend's house, let alone one she'd only met that week. If she was being honest with herself, she wanted to know more about Izuku. What did he do for fun? What was he interested in? Sure, they'd texted a little bit, which was another mystery to her, but this was only the second time they'd been in each other's presence.

"Uh… H-hagakure?" The boy's voice broke through her internal dialogue. "I-is everything ok?"

"Y-yeah," she stammered, a little embarrassed at having spaced out. Stepping through the doorway, she slipped off her shoes as well, laying them next to Izuku's.

Tooru followed her friend through the apartment to the small living room, giggling at the sight of the black, white, and red name plate over his door. "I'm guessing you're a big All Might fan?"

Izuku's face flushed a little as he broke into a broad grin. "Yeah! She's the best. I used to want to be a hero just like her."

It took a moment for the meaning of his words to register. "You used to? Is it because…."

The boy's smile faltered slightly and he rubbed the back of his head, fingers seeming to linger. "Y-yeah… ever since I can remember, I've wanted to be a hero…" The sadness in his words tugged at her heart. "But… being blind kinda makes that a little hard…and being q-quirkless doesnt make it any better."

"Midoriya, have...have you always been blind?" He shook his head and finally the weight of the whole situation registered to the girl. Something had all but shattered his dream. He had obviously known his quirklessness was a huge hurdle, but now…

Now it was impossible.

"It happened when I was 4…" Tooru turned back to her friend. His smile was still there, but it was tinged with sadness. "We were just playing by the creek when Kacchan slipped off the bridge and into the creek." The smile slowly faded as he stared down at his hands. "I-I was worried about him, so I ran down. Then...then I slipped and hit my head… When I woke up…" He waved his hands in front of his eyes where she could see tears forming.

She felt Izuku jump slightly as her hand rested on his shoulder. 'How do I even respond to that?' Tooru stared at her own hand, or rather the bracelet she wore. 'There has to be something I can say…'

Awkward silence fell between the two middle schoolers for a few moments before Izuku moved. He rubbed away his tears and put on a smile, turning back to his friend. "I-I'm sorry to just dump stuff on you like that…"

Tooru smiled and squeezed his shoulder before removing her hand. "Any time. I mean, what are friends for." As the boy's face brightened, an idea struck her. "You know, there are more ways to be a hero than fighting villains and saving lives." Izuku's eyes widened at the words, and over his shoulder she could see Inko, tears in her eyes and a broad smile on her face.

"I'm sure, in your own way, you'll be an amazing hero."

His tears returned, full of happiness this time.

* * *

As simple as dinner was, Tooru was convinced she'd never tasted better katsudon in her life. Obviously it was a dish Ms. Midoriya had mastered and one that Izuku loved. The conversation was comfortable as well, with Inko wanting to know all about her son's new friend.

But aside from the delicious food, the joking, and getting to know the family, the thing that stood out to Tooru the most through the whole evening was the _feel_ of it all.

It felt like home.

* * *

"Thank you again for joining us, Tooru," Inko called from the dining room. "Feel free to come by any time."

The girl smiled and waved as she followed Izuku out the door. He'd insisted on at least walking her out of the complex. Silence settled between the two as they descended the stairs slowly. The greenette obviously had something he wanted to say, so Tooru just waited, knowing he prefered thinking things over.

"Did…" a pause. "Did you mean it?"

Tooru tilted her head. "Did I mean what?"

Izuku shook his head, gazing into the distance as he used his hands to guide himself. "I… What you said earlier… about me being a h-hero…"

Her brow furrowed. "Of course I meant it. Why would I lie about something like that?"

A sad smile formed on the boy's face. "It's just… y-you're the first person to r-really say that…" His eyes turned downwards as they turned a corner in the complex. "Everyone else…"

Tooru hummed in understanding. "They tell you it's too dangerous. That your blindness will just get in the way…" He nodded. "And that's why I said what I did. You may not be just like All Might, but you'll be your own kind of hero." 'Hell, you've helped me already…'

Izuku's eyes seemed to light up before his smile grew. "I… Th-thank you Hagakure. You just gave me a great idea."

"Oh?" Not quite what Tooru expected, but it was still a good reaction. "And what would that be?"

He turned his head back in the direction they were walking. "I'll tell you about it if it works."

"Now that's just mean," the girl pouted. "You can't just say something like that and not tell me."

Izuku fidgeted nervously. Obviously he wanted to say what he was thinking but… "I-I kinda want it t-to be a surprise." His eyes turned towards her. "B-but I'll tell you this much: I-I may be getting better."

Tooru cocked her head in confusion, not quite sure what he meant. "What do you…" Her voice trailed off and her eyes widened, hands moving to cover her mouth. "Wait, do you… can… are you…?"

Izuku's smile only grew. "It's not for certain, but...maybe?"

An excited squeal echoed through the complex as Tooru threw her arms around her friend, pulling him into a tight embrace. "AHHHH! That's so amazing!" After a few moments she pulled back, seeing the green-haired boy doing a spectacular impression of a tomato, causing her to giggle lightly. "Seriously, that's super exciting news! You HAVE to give the specifics soon, okay?"

The boy nodded, still a little dazed at the sudden hug. It even took him a moment to realize they'd reached the entrance to the apartment complex. "I-I-I'll be s-sure to tell y-you," he stammered. "Y-you sure you d-don't want me to w-walk you the rest o-of the way?"

Tooru nodded, bouncing slightly for emphasis. "Yep. I'll be fine from here. I only live a few blocks away actually." As she made her way out she called back, "tell your mom 'thank you' again for me."

Izuku just waved in response before turning and making his way back up the stairs.

* * *

The sun had set about an hour before she left Izuku's apartment, the last remnants of its light staining the sky a vivid mix of reds, blues, and purples. Tooru gave herself a moment to take in the view before letting out a sigh and making her way home.

On the one hand, it was comforting having a new friend who lived so close by. On the other hand, she wished the walk home would take longer…

Because within minutes, she arrived at her neighborhood.

Her pace slowed as she padded down the sidewalk, gripping the straps of her backpack tight. In her head, her thoughts were racing. 'It's ok, Tooru. It's just your house. Maybe no one's home yet. Maybe they're asleep. Maybe dad's still at work. Yeah, that's probably it. The car isn't in the driveway…'

The gate squeaked lightly as she pushed through it, dragging her feet the last few meters to the front door. With a deep breath she turned the handle and stepped inside.

The only light on was coming from the kitchen, but she couldn't hear anyone. With her shoes removed, she quietly made her way down the hall to investigate

Tooru's mother sat at the table, head down and snoring lightly, with a mostly empty wine glass just inches from her hand. With a sigh and a sad smile, Tooru tiptoed to the living room, grabbing a blanket. Once she'd wrapped the cloth over her sleeping mother she stepped silently up the stairs to her room and, once free of her clothes, flopped down onto her mattress.

She fell asleep well before the shouting started.


	5. The Sound of the World

The moment the alarm rang through his consciousness, Izuku knew something had changed. It wasn't a sudden change by any means; it had been going on for over 8 years now. But today…

He saw it all.

Izuku sat bolt upright, trying to take it all in. His hand reached out, flicking the switch on his clock without fail. Head spinning, he stumbled to his bathroom door. Shapes and outlines filled his senses as he stepped into the small space. He reached out yet again towards one, eyes widening as he gripped his toothbrush without any fumbling or searching.

"Mom." His voice was raspy, throat dry. Swallowing, he tried again. "MOM!"

Footsteps in the hall, then the bedroom door opened behind him. He could _see_ it move.

"Izuku? Honey, is everything alright?" Worry tinted his mother's voice as she looked him over.

"M-mom. Watch…" His voice shook as he reached out, hand landing on his tube of toothpaste. Inko's jaw dropped as she watched her son open the lid and, after turning on the sink and wetting the bristles of the brush, spread the toothpaste on with unerring accuracy.

"Oh, Izuku…" she whispered, pulling her son into her arms, tears flowing down her cheeks. "Izuku… this is amazing!"

He smiled brighter than he had in years. "M-mom… it'll work. My idea…it'll actually work…"

The two held each other close, smiling at this revelation until it was time for Izuku to leave for school.

The walk to school that morning was an interesting one. As expected, the explosive blonde took the news of Izuku's new brand of sight with a bit of skepticism. That is, until the blind boy was able to not only avoid walking into a sign post, but did so without also walking into one of the sidewalk's other travelers.

"You...you're still blind right?" Katsuki asked after the fourth such incident, this one involving a lady with a baby stroller.

"As a bat." A bright grin grew on Izuku's face as he realized the truth of his statement.

Katsuki couldn't help but smile inwardly, the ever-present shadow of guilt lifting slightly at the revelation that his friend was getting better.

A small hand landed on his shoulder, causing the boy to jump slightly (though he'd never admit it out loud). Izuku's smile had turned soft, becoming one of understanding. "You know I've forgiven you for that, Kacchan," the smaller boy said, voice barely louder than a whisper as they entered the school. "I just hope you can forgive yourself one day."

Katsuki sighed, patting his friend's shoulder in return.

'Maybe one day…'

The last bell couldn't come soon enough. It never did on days like this. As much as Tooru appreciated the company of her friends, sometimes…. Sometimes being alone was better.

 _Dad (13:42): Hey sweety. Mom and I have an appointment we have to go to after work. We left some money on the table for food._

 _Dad (13:43): I'm sorry for leaving you alone again today. Hopefully this will all be figured out soon._

 _Dad (13:43): I love you, my little ghost._

 _Me (15:06): I love you too daddy. Hope things go well._

Shutting her phone and pocketing it, Tooru swung her bag over her shoulder and headed towards the gate. Not three seconds later, she felt her phone go off once again. As she reached for it, however, a voice got her attention.

"Tooru, wait up!"

The invisible girl turned. "Hey, Maki. Whats up?"

Maki slowed to a walk as she neared her friend, smiling amiably. "Oh nothing~" the girl hummed. "Just wondered if you wanted to come over today. Maybe give me a hand with some of the homework?"

Tooru giggled, knowing her friend would likely need a good amount of help considering how distracted she'd been the last few days. "I'd love to help," she said, bouncing slightly, "but I can't today." Seeing the crestfallen look on Maki's face, she quickly added, "I-I promised a friend I'd help him with something."

Maki's frown was quickly replaced by a mischievous grin. "'Him,' huh?" Tooru groaned, regretting her explanation. "Is this someone I know~?"

She was stuck. If she denied what she said, it would only heighten her friend's curiosity, but telling her any more would just give her fuel for gossip. With a sigh, Tooru resigned herself to her fate. "He's just a friend, Maki. I only met him last week." She saw Maki's eyes gleam, and it gave her an evil idea.

"Besides, you already know who I like." With a grin of her own, the invisible girl turned and started walking away.

"Wait," Maki yelled from behind her. "You never told me you liked someone. I HAVE TO KNOOOWWW!"

Tooru just giggled and waved, quickening her pace slightly.

The park was mostly empty today, as it usually was on a Monday. It didn't take long for Tooru to find an unoccupied bench, which she quickly sprawled out on, using her backpack as a pillow. It wasn't until she had made herself completely comfortable that she remembered her phone and the unread message.

 _Midori-bean (15:07): It's working!_

The girl sat bolt upright, fingers flying over her screen.

 _Me (15:37): What?! Seriously!?_

Her heart was racing. Sure she'd only known the boy for a week now. But with the amount they had been texting each other, not to mention dinner the day before, Tooru already considered him a close friend and couldn't help but be excited for him.

It took the boy a few minutes to respond, and she could feel her curiosity growing with each passing moment.

 _Midori-bean (15:41): Yeah! I'm down at Dagoba Municipal Beach if you wanna come by._

 _Midori-bean (15:42): Not that you have to come if you don't want to I just thought with how cryptic I was about it all yesterday that you may want to know what I was talking about y_

 _Midori-bean (15:42): Ou're probably busy with stuff and wouldn't be able to come see anyway plus we've only known each other for a week now so it may be weird of me asking so I comp_

 _Midori-bean (15:42): Letely understand if you don't wanna come._

Tooru burst into laughter. In the few time's they'd interacted in person or talked over the phone, she'd heard the green-haired boy's mumbling habit come into play more than once. This was, however, the first time she'd seen in in text form, and frankly she was impressed that his phone could pick it all up.

 _Me (15:44): Don't sweat it, Midoriya. I'd love to see what you can do. :)_

After a few minutes of soaking up more of the summer sun, the invisible girl swung her bag back onto her shoulder and made her way.

"New message from [HAGAKURE]."

 _Hagakure (15:44): Don't sweat it, Midoriya. I'd love to see what you can do. :)_

Izuku couldn't help but smile at his friend's words as he pocketed his phone. He could only guess she was at the park, which meant he had at least 10 minutes before she would get there. Plenty of time to practice his sight a bit more.

This stretch of beach presented a perfect opportunity for Izuku to practice for multiple reasons. The random objects scattered across the sand would let him familiarize himself with how sounds interacted differently with certain materials. This would help him hone his vision more and more as he navigated the mountains of trash

More than this, however, was the idea that his new friend had put in his mind. _"I'm sure, in your own way, you'll be an amazing hero."_ Those words had meant more to him than she could ever know. He still wanted to be a hero, even after all these years. And what better way to be a hero than to help people?

So, he determined, Izuku would use his time training at the beach to clean it. There was a dumpster here already, so he didn't need to worry about having a place to dispose of the trash. He just hoped he could train his senses to keep from hurting himself on the various objects.

After a few minutes of searching, he found what he'd been looking for. Reaching down, he picked up what he assumed was an old plastic paint bucket, feeling around the inside to get a better idea of it's integrity and dimensions. Once he was sure it wouldn't break on him too quckly, Izuku was ready.

"Midoriya?" The voice was muffled slightly by the trash surrounding him, but he recognized it all the same.

"Over here, Hagakure."

A moment later, the sound of footsteps in the sand filled the air, bringing more of the trash into view for the green haired boy.

"Holy hell, this place is a mess."

Izuku chuckled at her words, nodding in agreement as he dropped a few smaller items of the trash into his bucket. He could feel her eyes on him as he worked.

There was a minute of silence before she cleared her throat. "So… are you gonna tell me now?"

Without a word, the boy stood and turned so he was directly facing his friend. A look of concentration formed on his face as he clicked his tongue twice, listening intently for the echoes that formed the world around him. Then, still facing his friend, he tossed the small object in his hand towards the bucket he'd set on the ground.

Tooru watched as the remote her friend had tossed clattered against the rim of the bucket before falling to the sand. "Dammit," the boy muttered under his breath. "I'm gonna need to work on that some more."

Her eyes slowly widened as she realized what had just happened, pieced together with his words from the day before. "You...you just… that…" A grin stretched across her friend's face as she fumbled for the right words. "You could...see the bucket?"

Izuku nodded. "Technically, I could hear it. But yeah." The grin turned into a blinding smile, tears welling in his emerald eyes. "You were right, Hagakure. I'm going to be my own kind of hero."


	6. Shifted Perspective

The creaking of floorboards broke through the silence in the house as Tooru padded her way into the kitchen, the light of the low-hanging sun streaming through the window. Normally she and Izuku would still be training his new vision down at the beach, but with the new term starting tomorrow, the girl was home early. Her dad was home early today as well, though he was holed up in his office for the time being.

Through the thin sliding door, Tooru could hear the ringing of her dad's cell, followed by the sound of papers shifting. Curiosity got the better of her and she crept forward, drink in hand.

"Hello?" … "Yes, this is he." … "Good afternoon, officer. What can I do for you?" … "Is everything ok? What happened this time?" … A heavy sigh. "I understand. I'll be there in a few minutes." … "Yes, thank you officer." … "Same here. Goodbye."

Tooru almost spilled her drink as she backpedaled into the kitchen, hearing her father's footsteps nearing the door before he opened it. He looked even more tired than usual as he rubbed his eyes, shaking his head slowly.

"You ok, daddy?" the girl asked, a hint of concern in her voice. "Is… everything alright?"

Kaito sighed, giving his daughter a soft smile. "I'll be fine, sweetie," the man replied, stepping to the fridge and pouring himself a glass of water. "Daddy has to run down to the station for a bit."

The invisible girl felt her heart sink at the words, knowing exactly what they entailed. "Do… do you need me to come with you this time?"

Her father chuckled lightly. "No, sorry." His arm wrapped around her, pulling her head into his chest. She hugged him back, letting herself relax in his comforting embrace. "The officer said they had some things to go over, so hopefully things will get worked out."

Tooru simply nodded. Her dad squeezed her again lightly before leaving a soft kiss on the top of her head. She squeezed back, then pulled away.

In a few minutes, the front door closed behind the older Hagakure, leaving Tooru alone with her worries.

* * *

The glass double doors of the police station slid open as Hagakure Kaito approached them, granting him passage into the brightly lit entryway. The officer at the front desk looked up from his monitor at the sound. "Afternoon. What can we do for you?"

The man sighed, pushing his red hair away from his eyes in vain. "Yes, I'm Hagakure Kaito. I received a call from officer Hyakushiki."

Recognition sparked in the younger officer's eyes. "Ahh yes, I remember hearing about that." He gestured towards the chairs along the wall. "If you'd take a seat, I'll let her know you're here."

With a quick bow, Kaito turned and took a seat, watching the officer disappear through the door behind him. It only took a minute or two before a familiar face appeared through the doorway, giving the man a soft smile and motioning for him to follow.

"I'm sorry about the short notice," the officer began as the two walked towards her office. "As you know, this is not the first time something like this has happened..." The man nodded but said nothing. Knowing what she was going to say next didn't quell the weight of dread he carried with him. "This time, though..."

The officer leaned forward, holding out a small stack of papers for Kaito, which he took carefully. His hands shook slightly as he scanned the documents. It wasn't the first time he'd read through these particular words, but it was the first time the pages had been marked with an official seal.

Hyakushiki studied him for a moment before giving him a sad sigh. "I can understand how hard this will be for you and your daughter," she said as the man handed the papers back, wiping a tear from his eye. "But at this point, we have no other choice but to admit your wife to a rehab facility, as per the agreed arrangement from the last hearing."

Kaito nodded in understanding. "It's fine, officer." His voice shook ever so slightly. "It's...it's been a long time coming, at this point." He shifted his gaze from his hands towards the window. "You know, she's been upset with me for a long time now."

The officer tilted her head. "What do you mean?" she asked.

A sad smile spread briefly across the man's face. "I've...had to work extra hours recently. I'm the head electronics guy at Misriah Support, and being short-staffed means later nights for me." He rubbed his face tiredly. "About a month after, the drinking started."

Something seemed to click in Hyakushiki's mind. "So she thinks you're seeing someone."

The man nodded. "She's confronted me about it a few times. Usually drunk." Sighing, Kaito turned back to the officer, the sad smile back on. "But it's no use worrying about it now, is it?"

Hyakushiki nodded with a mix of agreement and understanding. "I sincerely hope the rehab will help her see things more clearly." She then stood, gesturing for the Hagakure patriarch to do the same. "For now, I'll have to ask you to take her home and have her pack some necessities. Officers Sugoroku and Mitsuba will be by tomorrow morning to pick her up."

Kaito bowed. "I understand, officer. I'll make sure everything is ready by then." The lady patted his shoulder sympathetically when he straightened, then followed him to the holding area to find his wife.

The walk down the hall seemed to stretch as the man braced himself for the tirade he knew would come. The officer opened the door and ushered him through, following across the threshold. Upon rounding a corner, Kaito found himself face to face with his wife.

There was a brief moment of silence before the shouting began anew.

* * *

Headlights shone through the window briefly as her dad's car pulled into the driveway. Tooru quickly ran to her doorway, peeking through as she heard the front door open. She watched as her mom stumbled through the kitchen towards the bedroom, obviously still a little drunk. A minute later, her father came into view, his gaze downcast as he slowly removed his shoes before stepping into the living room and taking a seat on the couch; the hunched shoulders and twisting hands betrayed the worried state of his mind.

Before she could stop herself, the young girl was moving to her father's side, lowering herself onto the couch next to him and resting a hand on his shoulder. She could feel him tense briefly at the contact before relaxing and dropping his face into his hands.

"Daddy?" Her voice was soft, little more than a whisper. Her dad took a deep, shaky breath before turning to her. She could see him holding back tears as he turned his gaze to her. The sight made her breath catch in her throat. "Is...is mom…?"

Kaito shook his head slowly before pulling the girl into a tight embrace. "It'll be ok, sweetie. It'll be ok."

Somehow, Tooru knew the words weren't just for her.

* * *

"Deku! Move your ass! Only the second week of the term and you're already gonna make us late?"

While he could barely see more than an outline of his explosive friend at this distance, Izuku was almost certain Katsuki was wearing his signature scowl. He ran his hand over his braille watch, making sure they wouldn't actually be late, but jogged to reach his friend nonetheless.

"S-sorry, Kacchan," Izuku said, hiding his grin at the blonde's impatience.

Katsuki just huffed. "Whatever, nerd. Just gotta make sure you don't fall on your ass a thousand times and slow us both down."

"Not likely, considering my uncanny spatial awareness," the green-haired boy teased; he could almost feel Katsuki's eye roll. _Does Kacchan still think I'm lying about my new sight?_

The rest of the walk was spent mostly in silence, which allowed Izuku to realize more and more how much his training was paying off. His hearing had been getting stronger and more refined, giving him an increased field of view. He was able to differentiate more and more between different sounds, though it was still hard to filter things out.

Half an hour passed by in a flash and soon the boys found themselves at the front gate to their school. As they entered the building, Izuku could hear a familiar voice echoing from down the hall in the direction of the principal's office.

"The hell? Why'd you stop, Deku?" Kacchan's voice pulled him from his temporary confusion.

"O-oh nothing. I just thought I heard...someone I know." He shook his head. "It couldn't have been, though…"

Katsuki huffed again. "C'mon. Get your ass moving again or else we'll both be late."

With a nod, Izuku hurried up the stairs after his friend, racing to their classroom as fast as possible without outright running there. The two boys took their seats, relieved to find they weren't the last ones to arrive.

"Alright, class. Settle down," their teacher, Mrs. Kowahara called from the front of the room. "We've got a busy day ahead of us, so we need to get started right away." Izuku and Katsuki stole a glance at each other. True to form, both of them had spent the weekend working ahead in each of their classes, so they weren't too worried about the contents of today's lessons.

Mrs Kowahara moved towards the door. "Before we begin our lesson for the day, we have a new student who will be joining us starting today." The door slid open, and a familiar outline stepped through. "Why don't you go ahead and introduce yourself?"

Izuku sat bolt upright. He knew his ears hadn't been playing tricks on him earlier.

"Um, ok," the invisible girl said, uncharacteristically nervous. The green-haired boy could swear he could hear her heart racing. "I-I'm Hagakure Tooru. I'm really excited to get to know you all. Thank you for letting me join your class."

"We're happy to have you, dear," their teacher said, her smile brightening her already cheerful voice. "Why don't you go take that seat by Midoriya in the back."

 _So_ that's _why there was that empty desk there_ , Izuku thought, rubbing his newly bruised knee. He smiled at Tooru as she took her seat, which she returned.

"I'll explain at lunch," she whispered, noticing the curious look on the boy's face. He simply nodded in reply before turning his attention back to the lesson.


	7. Out in the Open

"So, the moving truck over the weekend…" Izuku started, tilting his head in contemplation. Tooru nodded in reply, forgetting that the blonde boy couldn't see the motion. With him present, _His name's Bakugou or something, right?,_ the invisible girl hadn't felt comfortable telling the full story, opting for a watered down version. She'd have to explain more to her friend later.

"Still doesn't explain how the hell you know Deku in the first place," the blonde huffed.

Confusion crossed Tooru's face briefly before she realized who the boy meant. "Oh, Midoriya? Well I, uh…" she shrugged in embarrassment. "I kinda ran into him one day…"

"Literally," the green-haired kid snorted. "She offered to help me look for my phone after I realized I'd left it at the park last spring." He shrugged before adding, "we've just kinda been talking ever since."

Bakugou chuckled softly. "For all those brains you got, you still keep forgetting shit? Guess Deku still fits you, then."

"I'll have you know, I've only lost one notebook this week," Izuku stated with mock indignance, the sight causing Tooru to giggle uncontrollably. Bakugou simply rolled his eyes but keep quiet.

* * *

The rest of the school day flew by. Tooru had been extremely nervous that morning, afraid this would be a repeat of her first day of junior high. Looking back, she knew the constant questions about her appearance were, for the most part, brought about by genuine curiosity, but that didn't make them hurt any less. A person could only handle so many jokes about being invisible before wondering if they really were jokes.

But that had quickly changed when she saw who one of her classmates was. She knew Izuku wouldn't judge her for her looks, or lack thereof, and after lunch she knew Bakugou would be the same (if you ignore the fact that he called her "Invisalign" instead of her actual name). Not only that, but knowing at least one person in the class had greatly reduced the stress of friend-making.

Now that the day was over, the girl had a new demon to face. A new walk home with an empty, unfamiliar apartment as the destination. Anyone who knew her predicament would hardly fault her for dragging her feet in collecting her belongings.

"So I guess we'll be walking home together, huh."

Tooru's head whipped around, looking at her green-haired friend as though he'd just grown a third head. Two heads were still rare, but not unheard of in the world of quirks.

After a moment of staring, the reality of the boy's words clicked in her head. "O-oh, yeah. I-I guess you're right." She gave a relieved sigh at the reminder that her now-best friend lived merely a few doors away.

Silence fell between the two as they made their way out the front gate. After bidding farewell to the blonde - _Bakugou. I gotta remember that-_ the boy turned towards her, rubbing the back of his head. "I was p-planning to stop by the beach before heading home. Y-you can join me if you want. Th-that is, unless you have to be home or have other people to spend time with. I meant I can't just…"

The girl couldn't help but giggle lightly as her friends words devolved into nearly incoherent muttering, to the point where she had to shake him gently to get him to stop. "It's fine," she said with a smile. "I'd...actually really appreciate that."

Izuku tilted his head, as though he wasn't quite sure what to think about her words. "What… Is everything ok?"

Tooru paused for a minute before slowly shaking her head, trying in vain to keep the lump from forming in her throat. "I'll explain while we walk."

* * *

12 years of life had not prepared him for this moment. No textbook, video game, or hero fight could have prepared him. It definitely didn't help that he'd never imagined himself being in this situation, especially since Tooru was his first real female friend.

So naturally, when the crying girl had buried her face into his shoulder, he froze and let out a very eloquent string of incoherent noises.

He was sure he hadn't done anything wrong up until this point. This just meant she trusted him. Right? She wouldn't have told him about her mom if she didn't.

But that didn't change the reality that there was now a girl. Crying. Into. His. Shoulder.

"Y-you know, my dad's gone, too." _What the hell, Izuku. Now is not the time!_ "My mom and I...we've been on our own for a couple of years now." He could feel her grip tighten on his shirt. _Shut up!_ "We still get money from him every month, and that helps. But it's been so long that I...I can't even remember what he looks like."

The girl's shaking slowly subsided, but he could tell she was still crying. Deciding he'd dug himself in too deep already, the boy decided to continue. "It hit my mom the hardest. She doesn't know it, but I've heard her cry about it a lot when she thinks I'm asleep." _Ok, now to find a way to make this relevant._ "I guess what I'm trying to say is… I think I have some idea what you're going through." _Good! That's perfect. Now just stop there._ "I mean, not really, since I was so young at the time that him leaving didn't really affect me too much, but I know what my mom is going through so I have some idea." _Way to go,_ Deku _. You were on a roll and you blew it. Brilliant! Absolutely fu-_

"Thank you…"

Tooru's voice was soft, barely louder than a whisper, but it cut through Izuku's thoughts with ease. Slowly, she pulled away, loosening her hold on the boy's shirt. "I've...n-never really had anyone I-I could talk to l-like this."

The words tore at Izuku's heart more than anything else the girl had said that day. It was something he could relate to on a whole other level. "I know that feeling all too well," he muttered, then paused. "Wait, did...did you not have friends? At your old school, I mean?"

"I did," she answered with what the boy assumed as a sad smile, wiping a few stray tears from her cheeks. "I was friends with most of the girls in my year. It's just…most of them were just into gossip and romance and cute things. We never had any deep conversations." A sigh escaped her lips. "I guess I just never felt I could confide in them… About anything, really…"

Izuku nearly patted her shoulder in comfort again, but held himself back, not wanting a repeat of what had just occurred. Instead, he decided to take another risk. "If… God, this is gonna sound weird, but if you had had someone to confide in… what would you have told them?"

The smile he felt forming on his friends face immediately made him wish he could take back his words. "Wow, Midoriya. Pretty bold asking a girl to share all her dark secrets."

 _Yes, Death? This is Midoriya Izuku. You can pick me up whenever you'd like._

She giggled at what he imagined was his tomato-red face. "It's fine. I'm just teasing." There was a pause while she turned away, tracing her finger idly through the sand. "I guess it would have been nice to just...talk, you know? To vent out insecurities and stuff?"

The boy tilted his head in confusion. "You're insecure? You're sure good at hiding it, if that's the case."

A pause.

"You know how there's the stereotype of girls obsessing over looks? Their own, as well as others'?" Izuku nodded. "Well… it's a stereotype for a reason. Most girls I know are that way. Especially some of my friends at Nabo Academy. Makeup, hair styles, accessories, you name it." He could hear the shakiness in her breath as she sighed.

"It must have been hard for you to relate," he interjected softly.

She nodded before continuing. "Most days, one or two of the girls would try out a different look. Sometimes it was to get the attention of some boy, other times they just wanted to feel pretty." Izuku heard a single tear trace a path down her jaw.

"It's hard to feel confident about yourself...when no one sees you…"

* * *

For the first time in years, Tooru felt truly at ease. At home, the atmosphere between her parents had almost always been tense, and she'd hid her own concerns to avoid adding to their stress. At school she would put on a bit of an act, wanting to fit in more with the other girls and not take away from their excitement and enthusiasm.

But here, on a trash-covered beach with a green-haired boy she'd known for only a few months, she'd been able to let down her guard and open up. Not only had she shared some of her deepest insecurities with him, but he was even able to relate to most of them ("Do you have any idea how many times I went to school smelling like bug spray instead of Old Spice?"). Never before had she been able to just talk and laugh openly with a friend. It was truly refreshing.

"You know," Izuku's voice pulled her back to the present, "it's getting pretty late now. We should probably get home so we can finish up our homework."

Tooru nodded. "Yeah, dad's probably wondering why I'm not ho- not at the apartment yet…" She saw the boy stiffen at her correction as she pulled out her phone. A quick text later and she turned back to her friend.

Neither moved for a few minutes, simply staring out at the hypnotic ebb and flow of the waves.

"Hey, Midoriya?" Tooru broke the silence. "I just… Thank you." She turned, smiling at him. It wasn't a bright, toothy smile, but a soft and simple one. "Thank you for being my friend."

The boy smiled back at her, meeting her eyes perfectly. "I'm glad I can be your friend, Hagakure."

"Call me Tooru." The words escaped her lips before she could stop herself, though she didn't regret them at all.

Izuku simply squeezed her hand in response.

…

 _Wait...when did he...?_


	8. Echoes Of Truth

By the time Tooru made it to her new bedroom and closed the door behind her, any anxiety she'd felt at being home alone was all but forgotten. The walk home from the beach had been nerve wracking, yes, but it a completely different and unexpected way.

The silence in the room lasted nearly a full minute before being shattered completely when the girl threw herself onto her bed and screamed into her pillow. Questions rampaged through her mind as she reflected on the past few hours. She was almost 100% certain that things could not have gone any worse.

 _I mean, it's not like you kissed him or anything,_ she reminded herself mentally. _Who knows how that would have turned out._

A groan echoed through the small room as Tooru extracted herself from the pillow and flopped onto her back. _Where did that come from?_ Up until today, the mere idea of kissing Izuku had never crossed her mind. She couldn't be in a relationship with him. They were just friends, right? _I don't even know if he sees me that way?_

 _Wait?_

 _Do I see_ him _that way?_

"UGH WHY IS MY BRAIN DOING THIS TO ME?" Her scream of frustration was again muffled by the pillow she pulled over her face.

 _He held your hand._

Her groans of frustration stopped. Tooru threw the pillow off of her as she stared up at the ceiling, eyes wide. "He held my hand…" she whispered, moving that same hand up in front of her face, inspecting it. "Was...was that on purpose."

The memory of that moment, when he looked her in the eye and smiled at her, flashed through her mind. They had both looked down at the same time, seeing their hands together.

He'd looked just as surprised as she'd felt.

A new, worse thought wormed its way into her mind. _What if it was me? Did_ I _grab_ his _hand?_

She flopped onto her back again and yelled out the only conclusion she could come to:

"FEELINGS SUCK!"

* * *

School the next day had to be canceled, as a nearby villain fight had wrecked most of the roads in the vicinity. Izuku had wasted no time in asking his mom to help him find a radio station recap of the attack.

Turns out the villain had a pressure related quirk, and had caused many underground pipes to burst before Edgeshot and Best Jeanist were able to subdue her. The good thing about radio recaps was how much detail they would add in the description. It was almost as good as being able to see the fight itself.

Unfortunately, the green-haired boy had a lot more on his mind than just a cool new quirk to write about.

"Izuku, honey. Is something wrong?"

The boy realized he'd been staring off into space for a good few minutes. Without muttering.

"O-oh, sorry Mom. I'm fine." He pulled himself back to the present. "I-I was just thinking about...yesterday."

The older Midoriya tilted her head at that. "That's right. You told me that Hagakure girl is in your class now." She paused briefly then asked, "did her family just move or something?"

Izuku hummed, trying to decide how much information would be ok to share with his mom. "They lived pretty close already, but they had some...changes recently. Had to downsize a bit."

Inko nodded in understanding. Izuku figured she'd caught on to the tone of his voice and that she wouldn't press the issue further. "I bet that's nice, though. It means you'll get to see your friend more often now."

"That's true," he replied, pushing his seat back from the table and carrying his breakfast plate to the sink. "You don't mind if I head to the beach, do you? I wanted to test some things out with my hearing."

His mother's smile echoed brightly in her voice. "Of course. Oh, I'm so happy that this all has been working out. Just remember to be home before it gets too late, and text me every once in a while so I know you're alright."

With a smile, a hug, and a promise, Izuku loaded up his backpack with a few water bottles and made his way out the door. Once alone, he allowed his repressed thoughts to come flooding back. His mother's words about seeing Hagak- _Tooru_ more often had brought the memory of the previous evening back to his mind in full force.

While overall his thoughts and emotions were in turmoil because of the whole encounter, he knew one thing for certain: He had helped her. She'd said so herself when they parted ways for the evening, and those words had echoed in his mind for hours before his exhaustion dragged him into unconsciousness.

" _Thank you for helping me."_

He closed his eyes, letting his feet carry him as his mind wandered to yet another memory from that evening. Perhaps the moment that had surprised him the most.

Finding her hand in his.

 _Did...did I do that? Or did_ she _grab_ my _hand?_

His heart skipped a beat at the possibility before he mentally slapped himself. _Come on, Deku. There's no way. She's a pretty girl and you're…you. She obviously only sees you as a friend._

The events played over and over in his mind, up until he felt the familiar sliding sensation of his feet moving through sand. No matter how much his doubts and insecurities raged within him, there was now one more certainty in his life.

 _I like Tooru._

* * *

Her hand slid over the railing as she made her way down the pathway beside the ruined beach. This had always been one of her favorite places when she was younger, and even now with heaps of trash covering the sand, it still felt the same as it always did.

The lady took a deep breath, letting the smell of warm sand and ocean water fill her. She couldn't help the smile forming as she swung her legs over the brick wall. It had been far too long since she'd visited her little refuge, and she intended to take full advantage of the beach's "abandoned" status.

Only, it obviously wasn't abandoned. Incessant muttering is not something a person hears at a place that is abandoned.

 _Who the hell…?_

Her curiosity didn't last very long, as within just a few moments of her arrival she spotted a short, green-haired boy making his way in between the heaps of debris.

 _A kid? What the hell is a kid doing here?_

Curiosity returned in a different form as she watched the boy. The dark haired woman couldn't make out anything he was saying, but it was easy to see he was completely oblivious to the world around him.

After a few minutes of being watched, the boy made his way to the most open area of shoreline. The area which just so happened to be directly in front of the woman. She decided to wait for him to notice her before speaking.

* * *

"Wow, kid, do you have a breathing quirk or something?"

Izuku's head shot up at the unfamiliar voice, a deep crimson blush flooding his cheeks. _How long has she been there?_ he wondered to himself. _And…what?_ "I don't think I've ever heard someone talk so fast for so long before."

 _Ah, that explains it._ "N-no I don't. I j-just talk to myself a lot." She nodded in understanding but said nothing. The boy hesitated for a bit before his own curiosity got the better of him. "N-not to be rude, but I-I didn't really think anyone else came to this beach…"

The lady chuckled briefly. "I was gonna say the same thing," she said, ending with a brief cough. "I came here all the time when I was younger and thought it was about time I visited. I wasn't expecting anyone else to be here either."

Izuku simply shrugged. "It's a nice place to come when you want to be alone," he replied. "Plus, all the trash around makes for good weight training."

"You know," the lady said, a hint of amusement in her voice, "I was actually wondering about that. I noticed a lot of these piles were much smaller than the pictures. That was you?" The green-haired boy shifted his weight from foot to foot, almost embarrassed. "Why?"

His head tilted at the question. _Wasn't expecting that..._ "I...It's a bit of a long story."

"I got time."

Izuku cocked an eyebrow. "My apologies, but why do you want to know?"

The woman smiled and sighed, moving to sit on the sand, her back to the wall. "That's a fair question. I guess I'm just curious. Most kids your age wouldn't be doing stuff like this, so I wonder why you are."

"Most kids my age aren't in my situation," he muttered loudly, sitting as well and starting some stretches. The lady cocked her head but said nothing. "Being quirkless certainly doesn't do you many favors nowadays."

He saw the slight twinge that crossed the lady's face at those words. "You're not wrong there," she stated. "I bet it's easy to feel like you're pretty far behind everyone else, huh?"

"You can say that again."

Another twinge, but one that was quickly replaced with a broad smile. "Seems like you're definitely on the right track though." A pause. "Can I ask another question?" The boy nodded. "What do you want to be when you're older?"

"A hero." The words were out of his mouth without a thought. "I've always wanted to be a hero just like All Might. It's just…." Izuku's voice trailed off, and he could feel the woman staring, waiting for him to continue. "It's...not possible."

"Because you're quirkless?"

He shook his head. "It's because I'm quirkless...and blind."

* * *

Heroes come in, quite literally, all shapes and sizes. There are heroes with voice quirks, elemental quirks, speed quirks. There are heroes who can transform, heroes who can fly, heroes with the heads of different animals. There's even a hero that can erase other quirks! But there is one thing that no hero, past or present, has ever been: Blind.

It was for this very reason that Shimura Nana found herself more conflicted then she ever had been before.

She knew she needed to retire; the large scar in her side made that painfully obvious. To do that, however, she needed to find a successor for her quirk. Someone with the heart of a hero and a drive to help people.

Of course, there were many promising up-and-coming heroes who would make for great successors. Some she suspected already had the strength needed to handle the power of One for All. But for each of these prospects, something felt like it had been missing.

Now she knew what that something was. It was something she'd seen too little of, and something she'd tried hard to emulate.

True conviction.

She didn't doubt the hearts of the heroes she worked alongside. _Well, maybe with one exception._ She knew they tried their hardest to save people and wanted to make the cities they patrolled a safer place. But to what end?

With this young, green-haired child, she knew the answer. There was no doubt in her mind that his boy would do anything in his power to help someone in need. The more she thought about it, the more she realized the truth. There was only one conclusion.

 _He's the one_.

* * *

 **A/N:**

 **I have to give credit where it's due. This idea came partly from "Cubicity" by crazy_man185, and partly from my wife saying "hey, there should be a story where Hagakure is self conscious about being invisible."**

 **Please let me know if there's something I need to fix or if you have any suggestions for writing/future events. Any and all feedback is welcome and appreciated.**

 **I hope you all enjoy!**

 **Edit: I made a minor change to chapter 4 that I'd accidentally forgot about. hopefully that is able to clear up at least one major point.**


	9. A Truth Revealed

**So I have to start of by thank you all for your support. I never really thought this story would get much attention, since it's such a rare pairing and there are already so many other MHA fics out there. But seriously, every favorite, follow and review has made my day. So from the bottom of my heart, Thank you!**

 **Now, a few people have been asking about how Toshinori is going to fit into this story. The only thing I can say that won't reveal too much is that he will be playing a decently major role in some things. I hope people like what I have planned, but if not…. *shrug* I'm sticking with it anyway.**

 **That being said, any and all feedback is more than welcome. So please let me know if there's something you don't like or that you feel I could do better.**

 **Now, without further ado, Enjoy ch. 9**

* * *

It was a gradual change, so much so that Izuku barely even noticed it. It wasn't until he and Tooru stopped for a break one afternoon that she pointed it out to him.

"So I know you said you were making progress on the beach," she stated between bites of sandwich, "but you dragging that fridge was definitely not what I expected."

Izuku blushed at the sort-of-compliment, looking intently at the sand between his legs. "I, uh… I've kinda been getting a few pointers recently."

The girl cocked her head at this. "Oh? Who from?"

"There's a lady who comes here every once in a while. She said she used to do a lot of heavy lifting and strength training." The boy laid back, resting his head on his hands as he gazed up at the fall sky. "Apparently this place was super popular when she was younger."

"You don't say…" He felt the sand shift as Tooru twisted a little, looking out over the ocean. "I can definitely see why." There was a pause as she seemed to get lost in thought for a moment. "Wait, why is she helping you? Not that it's not awesome or anything. It just...kinda strange."

Izuku had wondered the same thing himself. He'd even asked Ms. Shimura why during one of their impromptu training sessions. "Apparently she doesn't want me to mess myself up while moving any of this stuff," he finally answered. "It seems like there's more to it than just that, but I'm not gonna say no to free help."

The girl nodded, seeming to accept the answer to about the same level Izuku had. Silence fell between the two as they listened to the ocean. He could feel her eyes on her and knew she must be thinking hard at the way she worried at her lip. As curious as he was, the boy decided to simply close his eyes and smile.

* * *

"Damn, that was a lot easier than I thought it was gonna be!"

"Maybe for you, Ms. 'I just transferred from a private school.' Nabo's curriculum is always a little ahead of ours."

"Yeah, we had to study our asses off for that final. Wouldn't be surprised if some the other shit-for-brains' flat out failed."

"Do mine ears deceive me?" Tooru gasped in mock surprise. "Did the great and powerful Bakugou just admit to not being the best at something?"

Izuku failed at hiding his grin while Bakugou growled emptily. "Watch it, Invisalign. Just cause you'd done all this shit before doesn't make you better."

"I shall keep that in mind, Sir Explosion King." The girl gave a mock bow, making the blonde huff and roll his eyes.

After a few more minutes of mild banter and name calling, Bakugou bid his two friends farewell to head for his own home. The two remaining teens walked in silence, huddled against the cold December air.

Without thinking, Tooru's eyes wandered over to the green haired boy walking beside her. She wondered idly to herself what her life would be like now had they never met. Her mind drug her back to a time where she would lie awake well after the shouting of her parents had faded to silence. A time where she would cry herself to sleep because of her insecurities.

Before, these memories alone could bring her to the verge of tears and beyond. She could hardly remember a time where she didn't feel moments away from breaking down.

But now, the memory of each breakdown and sleepless night took her mind somewhere new.

Sand beneath her feet. A setting sun behind her. A hand on her shoulder.

His voice...

"You know," Izuku's voice broke the silence. "I can almost hear you thinking."

Tooru jolted from her thoughts, feeling her face flush wildly and thanking every deity she knew that Izuku couldn't see color.

"O-oh, really?" She fumbled for something, anything, to say. "I-I was just thinking about how glad I am that we're fr- that I met you…"

Though the look on his face said he knew she was hiding something, the boy smiled brightly at her. "I'm glad we met, too, Tooru," he replied. "You've really helped me a lot. I...I really appreciate that."

Impossible though it may have been, Tooru felt her blush deepen even more. Wordlessly, she let her gently bump into his side, smiling brightly at him.

A moment later, she felt him return the gesture.

* * *

Nana slumped on the small couch, still stirring in the sugar that had long since dissolved. The elderly hero seated across from her waited patiently as she mulled over her thoughts.

"I found the one," she stated simply, tensing immediately at what her friend might say.

Instead he surprised her. "He's got the drive, I assume?" Nana looked up with a start before nodding and taking a sip of her tea. Another pause before Gran Torino spoke up again. "Well, are you gonna tell me about him, or are we playing Twenty Questions here?"

The dark haired hero couldn't help but snort and grin. "You're certainly impatient," she shot back, a twinkle in her eyes. "What all do you want to know?"

Gran chuckled briefly. "How old is the kid?"

"He's 13. Just finishing his first year of Junior High." Nana suppressed a grin at the surprise on her friend's face. "I know, I know, that's really young. But he'd surprise you." Gran raised an eyebrow, but before he could say anything, she just kept talking. "He started cleaning Dagobah beach, Gran. A 13 year old is trying to clean the whole beach because he feels its the best way he can be a hero."

He was not expecting that last part. "Wait what? What do you mean by that?"

Nana stopped in her tracks. Gazing into her tea, she mumbled, "well, he…he's…"

"He's quirkless?" Gran guessed. The lady simply nodded, not lifting her eyes. The older man let out a long sigh, shaking his head in amusement. "Not sure why I expected otherwise."

"And what's that supposed to mean, huh?"

He held up his hands in defense. "Calm down, Nana. We both know you have a soft spot there." With a softer smile he added, "Guess it probably helps that your predecessor had been quirkless, too."

She nodded, a smile forming on her face as she downed the rest of her beverage, setting the mug on the small table between them. There was a long moment where she gazed off into space, letting her thoughts wander.

"It's not just that." Her voice caught the attention of the elderly hero. "The kid… He's also blind, Gran." Nana quickly raised a hand to stem her friend's protests. "Just hear me out, ok? There's more to it." She watched in mild amusement as Gran had to all but physically force himself to sit still. Not that she could blame him.

The boy's blind, but I think he can see better than most people." Skepticism crossed his face, but he blessedly kept his mouth shut. "I'm not sure exactly how it works, even after he tried explaining it to me. From what I do understand, he basically sees with his ears. Kind of like a type of echolocation quirk."

Gran simply nodded, seeming to understand where she was going with her line of thought. "So you're kinda hoping One for All will enhance that for him, huh?"

She nodded. "You've seen what it's done for my own quirk," Nana said, activating both quirks and taking on her 'All Might' form. The age seemed to melt from her features, wrinkles and worry lines vanishing, extra fat melting away. "And we already know it enhances physicality. If the boy has been working out his hearing like another muscle, why wouldn't One for All make that stronger as well?"

After a moment, she let both quirks go. Her age returned and she sat back against the cushions. There was a long pause between the two friends as Nana's thoughts flew back nearly 30 years.

A face entered her mind as her old wound began to ache.

A face covered in blood.

Gran knew where her mind had gone. "You're worried, though, aren't you?" It was more of a statement and a question.

Taking a deep breath in and out, she nodded. "Terrified."

Another silence filled the room. "Are you sure you can go through _that_ again? After what happened with…?"

Nana nodded shakily. "Either this kid lives…or we lose One For All…"

* * *

"Hey, kid!"

Izuku looked up from his stretches, and Nana could only guess that his attention was on her. He didn't usually look at people.

Steeling herself for the conversation to come, she waved him over. "C'mere for a bit, will ya?"

The boy must have caught on to the slight shake in her voice, because he hesitated for a moment before standing. "Is everything alright, Ms. Shimura?" he asked, concern tinting his voice.

"I'm fine, it's just…" she took a steadying breath. "There's something I gotta tell you…" She motioned for him to follow before turning and walking through the piles of trash. After half a minute of walking, the came to what appeared to be an old bench from someone's backyard. Nana seated herself on one end and motioned for her student-of-sorts to do the same.

"A-are you sure you're ok, Ms. Shimura," he asked again. "You seem..." the boy's words trailed off and he looked away almost bashfully.

Nana couldn't help but smile briefly. "Like I said, there's something I need to tell you." She sighed deeply, resting her elbows on her knees as she looked out towards the horizon. "You've definitely come a long way…"

A bright smile grew on his face at the praise. "Th-thank you. I don't think I could have gotten this far without your help. Not this fast, anyway."

"What if…" _Damn, this is gonna be harder than I thought it'd be._ "What if I told you I could help you go even faster?"

 _That_ caught Izuku's attention fully. Nana raised a hand to cut him off. "Before I explain… I have to come clean with you, Midoriya." Using his name had the desired effect. Rarely did she call him anything other than "kid" or "boy" or something that poked at his stature. This time, he knew she was dead serious about whatever she was about to say.

Nana closed her eyes, face aimed down at the sand. "I haven't been entirely truthful with you. You deserve to know who I am." Slowly, she moved closer to the boy, taking his hand and moving it to her face. The boy's face turned to one of confusion as his fingers traced the lines and wrinkles on her brow and cheeks.

Then, Nana activated her quirk.

Izuku's eyes went wide as he felt the now smooth skin under his hand. The hard line of her jaw, the signature mole on her chin. There wasn't anyone else she could be.

"Y-y-you...y-you're…"

"Yes, Midoriya. I am All Might."

By some miracle, Izuku did not enter his usual fanboy mode. She'd seen him ramble endlessly about pro heroes time and time again, and had half expected him to do the same once he found out. But something about her tone, about the way she'd revealed herself, had held his excitement at bay.

"W-why….?" His voice cracked slightly. "Why me…?"

Nana smiled softly at the boy, releasing her quirks but not his hand. "Because, my boy, I want to ask you to be my successor."

Izuku seemed to stagger under the weight of the heroine's words, eyes growing wide. "B-b-but...b-but I'm _quirkless_!" He nearly choked on the word. "I-I'm quirkless, I'm _blind_ , there's no way I could possibly be a hero! There's...there's no way…" Tears began to well in his eyes as his words died in his throat. "I...I can't…"

"You can." Nana's hand rested on the boy's shoulder in a comforting manner. He rubbed the tears from his eyes as he turned to face her again. "You can be a hero. And I will be with you every step of the way."

"B-but, even with your help. I'm still blind and quirkless…" She could see the war in his mind between hope and doubt.

"Do you remember my earlier question?"

Izuku froze. A long moment passed before he replied. "You asked what I would say if you told me you had a way for me to improve faster." A nod. "You… is that even possible?"

A broad smile stretched across the woman's face. "It is. It's also how you're going to become a hero." A sparkle passed through the boy's eyes. He obviously had dozens of questions in his mind and was barely holding them back. The sight just caused Nana to smile all the wider.

"Midoriya. I want you to inherit my quirk."


	10. A Secret Kept

**So I'm publishing this a lot sooner than I thought I would be. Had a lot more down time than I expected.**

 **I hope you all enjoy!**

* * *

"You know, there have been times where thinking about being a hero left a bad taste in my mouth," Izuku stated, tossing a third empty water bottle into the dumpster. "I didn't think that'd ever be more than a figure of speech."

Nana snorted much louder than she ever intended. Internally, she couldn't help but be proud of her student. "You can't say I didn't warn you," the lady chuckled. "Though if I'm being honest, you handled that a lot better than I did. When my predecessor had me eat his hair, it took three tries 'cause I couldn't keep it down."

It was the boy's turn to snort. To think that the greatest hero he knew, the Symbol of Peace, had a hard time doing something as simple as swallowing a hair seemed rather laughable indeed. To be fair, though, the hair did leave a surprisingly sour taste in his mouth, one he was now attempting to rinse out with a fourth bottle of water.

"So you really have no idea how this will affect me?" Izuku asked after spitting a mouthful of water onto the sand.

His mentor simply shook her head. "I can only really speculate, honestly. Obviously when you activate it, it'll increase your physical strength exponentially. As far as passive effects…" Nana paused, tapping her chin in thought. "The only thing I know for sure is that it should enhance your senses somehow."

Izuku perked up at this, possibilities running through his mind at breakneck speeds. Nana obviously noticed his reaction, because she smiled softly at him. "Before you ask, no, I don't know if it will affect your hearing. It certainly didn't for me." She chuckled at what Izuku could only assume was a memory. "For me, it helped my eyes. Passively, I can see farther than normal, and I can process higher speeds when its active."

A piece of an oven soared through the air, landing squarely in the dumpster with a loud banging noise. Izuku still was trying to decide whether or not this was all just a dream, even though the awful taste in his mouth suggested otherwise. It all seemed almost too good to be true. The number one hero wanting to train him, even going so far as to give him her quirk.

The hero's voice cut through his thoughts. "There are two things I need to warn you of first." His heart jumped into his throat, anxiety slowly creeping through his mind. "Well, the first is more of an order, really. I have to forbid you from fully activating your quirk until further notice."

Izuku's heart skipped a beat at the tone in her voice. "W-why is that?"

Nana released a deep sigh before explaining. "As I explained, One for All stockpiles the strength of its users, past and present. When you activate your quirk for the first time, you won't be used to controlling it. It's likely that you'll accidentally tap into 100% of that power and could potentially...hurt yourself." The boy paled and swallowed hard at the thought. "To avoid that, we're gonna kick up your strength training to prepare your body for it."

"Glad to hear you meant it when you said you didn't want me to break myself." The green-haired student couldn't help but passively wonder if it was too late for him to get two fingers in his throat and reverse the swallowing he did earlier.

The pro hero simply rolled her eyes in response. "There's one more thing that's a little up in the air with this," she continued. "So far, i'm the only wielder of One for All that previously had a quirk. That being the case, there's really no telling how that will affect things. The good thing is that my quirk is a healing quirk, one that reduced the effects of aging on my body and allowed me to recover from injuries faster than normal."

Izuku sighed in relief at this revelation. "So basically, either nothing is different, or I get some side effects from your original quirk." He tapped his chin in thought. "I wonder if the side effects would be a passive thing or if I'd have to consciously use it. I mean, it obviously has an active effect when you use it, but how much of it is passive. And I wonder if it'll be enhanced by One for All the same way strength and speed are…"

"You know, if you keep doing that," Nana interrupted, pulling the boy out of his musings, "I'm pretty sure you'll convince me you have some kind of intelligence quirk."

With how warm his face felt, Izuku was certain he'd turned a spectacular shade of red. "S-sorry," he stammered. "I-it's just that you've given me a lot to think about."

Nana simply waved off the apology. "It's not a big deal, kid. I can only imagine how weird this all must sound. I've had One for All for around 45 years and I still don't fully understand it."

Unfortunately for both, Izuku's brain was still on autopilot.

"Wow, Ms. Nana. I didn't know you were so old..."

* * *

A few minutes later the two plopped down onto the sand and leaned against the cement wall. Izuku was rubbing the new bruises on his arms while Nana nursed her injured pride, both breathing hard as a result of their brief skirmish.

"Hopefully that'll teach you not to comment about a woman's age."

"I mean, you poke at my height all the time, so it seems only fair."

Nana huffed. _This kid sure would've made you proud, Toshi._

Moments passed before Izuku broke the silence that had fallen between them. "Ms. Nana? Have you...thought about my request?"

The woman nodded. "I don't see any reason why you can't." She couldn't help but smile at the happiness and relief that formed on the boy's face. "The only condition is that I have to be there."

* * *

"Come on, Hagakure. I know you're better than this."

The floor of Ms. Fushiki's gym was not an unfamiliar place for Tooru to be. Falling and getting thrown were all part of the learning process here. Today had been the worst though, and her instructor was obviously getting a little frustrated.

"It's barely been 10 minutes and I've already knocked you over seven times." Ms. Fushiki placed her hands on her hips, gazing down at her student intensely.

"I know, I'm sorry," Tooru mumbled as she pushed herself into a sitting position. "It's just...my mind has kinda been all over the place." After a moment of sitting, she took her instructor's outstretched hand and was pulled to her feet.

"Anything you'd like to talk about?" The woman asked with a hint of concern. "Sometimes saying it outloud can help put your mind at ease."

The girl was silent for a long while before she took a shaking breath. "I told you about what happened with my mom, right?"

A nod. "She's in rehab, if I remember correctly."

Tooru nodded in confirmation, clenching and unclenching her gloved fists. "Did I tell you that my dad and I had to move as a result?" Another nod. Another shaking breath. "Well… since we moved, I actually had to switch to one of the nearby public schools. The same one as my friend Izuku, actually." Ms. Fushiki nodded along, but remained silent, allowing the girl to collect her thoughts. "Because I switched schools, I haven't been able to stay in contact with my old friends that much, so I've been trying to get to know some of the girls in my new class. I'm already friends with Izuku, and I think I'm getting there with his friend, Bakugou. It's hard to tell with him sometimes."

Before the girl could continue, her instructor gestured towards the chairs along the side wall. "Shall we?" Tooru nodded and followed the woman, taking a seat next to her. "Might as well be comfortable as we talk."

The girl thanked her before continuing. "Like I said, I already have two friends at school, but I want to try and make more. It's just so hard because…." She could feel a lump forming in her throat. "It's just…with Izuku, things feel like they just come naturally. Like I'm really being myself. But with the other girls in class… I dunno, it feels more difficult."

"Does it feel like you have something to hide from them?" Tooru shook her head. "Then what is it that is making it hard for you?

"I…" It was a question she'd never stopped to consider. Why _was_ it hard to make friends with the girls in class? What was she truly afraid of? "I guess…I'm worried that it'll end up like most of my past friendships."

Ms. Fushiki tilted her head, brow creasing. "What do you mean by that?"

Tooru sighed, finally able to quell her emotions and resting her chin on her hands. "At my old school, we were just school friends. We'd talk in class, share gossip, stuff like that. But outside of class and texting…"

"You were more of acquaintances than actual friends." The invisible girl nodded as her teacher finished her thought for her. "So this time, you want it to be more meaningful, I'm guessing."

The emotions were coming back now. "I just… I don't want to be dependant on Izuku for company. I know he's busy with his own things and I just don't want to be a burden to him. He's already done so much for me, especially after my mom… And then with my dad working…. I-I don't w-want to be alone…"

A hand rested on her shoulder and for a brief moment she expected to see Izuku sitting next to her. "Hagakure, can I ask something?"

"G-go ahead." A single tear dripped onto the gym floor.

"What makes Izuku so special?"

Tooru froze. "I-I…" This was a question she'd been putting off for months now. She knew the answer all too well. But knowing it and saying it out loud were two totally different things.

Ms. Fushiki seemed to know exactly what was going through the invisible girl's mind, if the cheshire grin was anything to go by. "You know… once you admit it to yourself, it just makes things easier."

A long silence followed, during which Tooru's heart and mind warred with each other. "H-he makes me feel comfortable," she finally stated. "He doesn't judge me for being insecure or for being invisible. I feel like I could talk to him about anything and everything. I… I _like_ him."

With those three words, Tooru felt like a weight had removed itself from her chest. From the corner of her eye, she could see her instructor's grin widen and she couldn't help but smile, even as a few butterflies went wild in her stomach.

"See? That feels better, doesn't it?" The two stood before Ms. Fushiki pulled her student into a brief hug.

Before letting go, the older woman turned her head and whispered into the girl's ear. "Now go tell him that."

* * *

 _Tooru (17:11): Hey Izuku. Just saw your message after training. I can be at the beach in about 20 minutes, if that works._

Izuku turned to his mentor and smiled. "She's on her way. Said she'd be here in about 20 minutes."

"I know," Nana replied with a grin. "I can hear your phone just as well as you can, Short Stack."

Izuku rolled his eyes, about to reply to the message when his phone buzzed again.

 _Tooru (17:14): Also… I have something I need to tell you, too…_

"Uh… Ms. Nana?" The lady turned back to face him. "Did that sound off to you at all?"

The hero motioned for the boy to pass his phone over, which he did. It only took a moment for her to catch what was going on. Having never met the girl, she didn't know exactly what it meant, but she had some idea. "She seems hesitant. She wrote this with pauses in it, at least."

Izuku nodded in understanding, worry creasing his brow.

 _I hope nothing bad happened…_

 _Me (17:16): Ok. Sounds like a plan._

* * *

"Oh hey, Tooru," Izuku stated as she stepped onto the sand before turning to smile at her. _I don't think I'll ever get used to him being able to see me when I'm behind him. It's way too disconcerting._

"So you're the girl I've heard so much about, eh?" Tooru jumped at the unfamiliar voice. Somehow she'd completely missed the unfamiliar lady standing by her friend.

 _He talks about me?_ The girl blushed at the thought before bowing to the stranger. "Th-that's me. You must be Ms. Shimura."

The lady smiled. "Please, just call me Nana. Or Ms. Nana if you have to be formal." She shot a pointed look at Izuku who flushed in response. "It's nice to finally meet you in person."

"Likewise," Tooru replied. "Um… Izuku, you said you had something you needed to tell me?" She turned back to her friend, tilting her head in curiosity.

Izuku looked down at his feet as he spoke. "A-actually… I think it would b-be better if we showed you…" As his voice trailed off, he turned towards the older woman, giving a sheepish grin. "That'd make the explanation go a lot easier."

"I trust you're able to keep a secret, young lady?" Nana's voice and gaze were stern, and even though her eyes didn't meet Tooru's exactly, the girl could still feel as if the woman were gazing into her soul. "It's very important that nothing you see or hear is shared with anyone else." Tooru swallowed hard but nodded in agreement nonetheless.

A tired sounding sigh escaped the dark-haired lady's lips.

Then she _changed_.

"Holy-"

* * *

Izuku could hear Tooru's eyes go wide in surprise as Nana assumed her hero form, the age vanishing from her face as her toned musculature surfaced. The girl staggered backwards a few steps before falling to the sand. "N-no way…" she breathed. "Y-you're really….?"

All Might nodded with her signature smile. He could tell she was trying her best to not be intimidating, but none of that seemed to matter to Tooru. "I really am All Might, Hagakure," the heroine stated before reverting to her normal appearance.

"But my identity is not the reason your good friend asked you to come here." The girl simply remained silent with her mouth wide open still slightly reeling in shock. "The truth of the matter is that I have been looking for a successor. Someone who can take my place as the Symbol of Peace when the time comes. As it turns out," the lady turned to face Izuku, "Midoriya here Is the perfect candidate. He has a selfless heart and a drive to do good that I have only seen a few times before." He felt his ears and cheeks start to burn at the praise.

Tooru looked ready to burst. Something about the number one hero's declaration didn't sit right with her. Nana apparently noticed this as well, since she held up a hand to quell any forthcoming questions. "Yes, yes I already know that Izuku is both blind and quirkless." The invisible girl's mouth snapped shut, though her worry did not abate in the slightest. "I may not be able to do much about his sight, though he seems to have that pretty well under control. I can, however, remedy his lack of quirk."

"All Might's quirk can be passed on," Izuku interjected, noting the look of disbelief on his friend's face. "She actually gave it to me a few hours ago, and already my vision has gotten a lot better." He couldn't help but smile as he continued. "Outlines are clearer, I can see farther. Hell, I can just about tell what way your eyes are facing." He paused before continuing. "I… I didn't know you had freckles… huh…"

"I HAVE WHAT!?"

* * *

A low-hanging sun illuminated the sidewalk as the two teens made their way home from the beach. The silence that stretched between them was almost comfortable, outside of the battle raging within the invisible girl's mind.

 _Ok, it's just three little words. How hard can that be?_

 _But…what if he doesn't-_

 _No, nonono, you are not going down that road. Thinking that way will only make this harder._

 _It's a legitimate concern. He may not feel the same way at all._

"Tooru? Is everything ok?"

The girl's eyes snapped up, noticing that she was a good distance behind her friend. He'd stopped once he noticed they were no longer side by side.

"O-oh, yeah. I-I'm fine," she stammered out. "J-just thinking about everything…"

Izuku nodded for a moment before his eyes widened. "Wait, I almost forgot. You said you had something to tell me?"

Tooru's face paled, or at least it would have if it had any color. "I-I did say that, didn't I?" _Crap… I can't back out now…_ "W-well it's just… I've been thinking a lot recently…" She stared at the ground as she spoke; the expectant look on his face was just too much for her. "You know, y-you've done so much for me and inspired me. Especially with how hard you've been working on cleaning the beach. I-I just wanted to tell you…"

 _I can do this._

 _I can_ **do** _this._

…

 _No…_

 _I can't..._

"...I-I'm going to try and become a hero, too."

Izuku's eyes went wide with excitement as Tooru smiled emptily at him. "Holy cow! Tooru that would be amazing! You could be such an effective hero! With your invisibility…"

The boy's excitement and enthusiasm never reached her, even as she did her best to reply. As she watched her crush ramble on, she could feel her heart sinking further with every footstep.

 _Feelings suck…_

* * *

 **I promise there will be some actual fluff next chapter. It just felt like having an actual confession would be moving things a bit too fast and I want there to be a stronger focus on the fluff when that happens. Please don't hate me...**


	11. Coming Clean

**Welcome back to yet another installment. I apologize in advance for this chapter basically being 3k+ words of filler, but it's time to get the fluff train rolling.**

 **Reviews:  
TheFatedWarrior: Well, she found out in (maybe) the best way possible, so it really wasn't too bad for her.**

 **AnimeA55Kicker: It all worked out in the end, didn't it?**

 **Fencer29: That section was more from Izuku's point of view. Nana wouldn't have actually noticed anything in that situation. Her eyes are good, but not that good. As for the entrance exam, it'll be coming up in just a few chapters. The story started in the middle of their first year in Junior high and chapter 11 will end in the middle of their 2nd year. Time skips will be happening basically up until the exam.**

 **Everyone else: Thank you for reading, I'm really glad you've been enjoying this so far.**

 **Now, without further ado...**

* * *

"I'm home!"

Inko peeked her head around the corner from the kitchen, watching as her son deposited his bag just inside his bedroom door. "Welcome back, Dear," the older Midoriya replied as Izuku trudged his way into the living room. "How did everything go?"

A groan forced its way through the couch cushion into which Izuku had firmly planted his face. "Mom?" His voice was muffled to the point that Inko had to move from the kitchen to the living room in order to hear him clearly. "H-how can you tell if someone likes you?"

"Well," Inko started, failing to keep her enormous smile from leaking into her voice. "There's not really a simple answer to that, sweety." The lady stifled a giggle as she watched her son go limp in frustration. "But that doesn't mean there aren't a few universal signs."

Izuku extracted himself from his spot on the couch, sitting upright and turning to face his mother. "What kind of signs?" he asked, an eagerly expectant look on his face that caused her to giggle again.

"They're little things, really. Slight differences in how they act around you compared to other people." Inko paused, tilting her head in thought. "Smiling when they see you. Trusting you with serious things. Watching you when they think you don't notice." The grin on her face grew to mischievous proportions. "Is there a reason you ask?"

Her son flailed in panic. "N-n-no reason. I-I was just w-wondering. Y-you know, like j-just in case s-something did happen…" Inko couldn't hold back her laughter at her son's desperate attempts to avoid her suspicion. Eventually he realized it was no good and seemed to accepted his fate. Slumping against the couch he faced the older Midoriya. "D-do you think…do you think she likes me?"

"You're talking about Hagakure, right?" Izuku nodded after a moment of hesitation. Inko chuckled with a soft smile. "To be honest, her being invisible makes it a little difficult for me to notice things. I can't see her face as well as you can." Her son slouched a little at that, obviously discouraged at the news. "But, even with that, it's easy to see that she's very comfortable aroud you."

The the way her son's face lit up at her words caused Inko to beam. His reaction all but confirmed the suspicions she'd had for a few weeks now; that Izuku had been harboring feelings for his invisible friend. This posed a brand new question however. Another question the older Midoriya was sure she knew the answer to.

"Have you told her how you feel yet?"

Izuku paled, his smile freezing in place briefly before falling. "I-I… N-no. I haven't had the courage to tell her yet. I a-almost did today as we were heading home from the beach but I got too scared and didn't know how she would react. I'm still not entirely sure if she likes me yet, so I'll have to just-"

"Izuku, Izuku. Sweetie, it's fine." Inko moved herself to the couch, sitting next to her son. "You just have to realize that you'll need to tell her at some point. Especially if you want anything to come from it." The boy swallowed hard before nodding his understanding. "And besides, there's a possibility she feels the same, but is too nervous to say anything. You never really know until you try."

"Thanks, Mom," Izuku said, returning his mothers soft smile with one of his own. "I-I'll definitely have to think about all this, but thank you for helping me."

Inko pulled her son into a brief tight embrace before giving him a nudge off the couch. "Now get going. You need to wash up from your exercises while I get dinner all ready."

* * *

Kaito watched his daughter's spoon swirl aimlessly in her bowl of curry. It was the only real cue he had to what was going though the young girl's mind. "If it's cold already, I'd be more than happy to run it in the microwave for a bit for you."

The words seemed to pull Tooru back to the present. "Huh? O-oh, no no it's fine." She quickly dumped a large spoonful of the curry into her mouth. "Ow, shit!"

The older Hagakure couldn't help but laugh as his daughter had to spit the still steaming curry back into her bowl, fanning her tongue to relieve the burning sensation. Once the silence had returned and Tooru had been able to successfully eat a few bites of her curry, Kaito's curiosity and concern got the best of him. "Definitely seems like you've got something bothering you," he started, blowing on a spoonful of dinner. "I haven't seen you this distracted in a good while now."

Tooru hummed and nodded absently. "Yeah, I… I guess I have a lot on my mind right now."

"Well you know I'm more than happy to listen or give advice if you need it, honey." Her dad gave a soft smile before turning back to his own bowl.

The silence between the two stretched on for another minute before Tooru sighed and dropped her head onto her arms. "Ughhh, I'm such an idiot…."

 _Not quite what I was expecting…_ "Tooru, what are you talking about?"

"I…" The girl shook her head against her arms, an action only made obvious by the movement of her clothing. "You know my friend Izuku. Well, I was gonna tell him that I like him a few weeks ago, but… I chickened out…" There was a quiet clattering sound as everything on the table jumped slightly; she must have hit her head against it.

Kaito chuckled as he ate another spoonful of curry. "It's a good thing you go to school with him then." He chuckled harder at the groan that came from his invisible daughter. "What do you think was holding you back?"

"That's the thing; I don't know," Tooru groaned, leaning back in her seat. "I thought I'd worked up the courage and everything. But when I was about to say it, he was smiling at me and it made my brain go all…" she ended by blowing a raspberry, arms flailing in frustration.

As his daughter's arms dropped to her side, and after a moment of silence, Kaito shook his head with a smile. "The funny thing about all this is that I've been in your shoes here."

"Really?" Hope and disbelief mingled in the girl's voice. "You had trouble with this sort of thing?"

The man nodded slowly, closing his eyes. "I told you how your mother and I met?"

"It was a mutual friend, right? You went to the same boarding school or something?"

He hummed in affirmation. "They got us to sit together at lunch one day during our second term. Took almost four months to realize that I liked her." Opening his eyes, Tooru's father finished off the last of his curry before continuing. "I had to work up the courage three separate times before I was finally able to tell her."

Tooru giggled at the idea, causing her dad to smile softly at her. "So how did you finally tell her?"

Kaito's smile grew wide. "I pretty much just shouted it at her in one of the courtyards after classes." He laughed hard at the memory, a laugh which his daughter echoed. "I was so scared she'd turn me down, but I decided to just get it over with. Thankfully the courtyard was pretty empty or I would have died of embarrassment."

It took a few moments for Tooru's laughter to die down. Once she was calm, she had to take a few breaths before speaking, not wanting to break out laughing again. "So… oh, man… so you just said it? And you didn't have any idea if she liked you back?"

"That's part of why I was so scared," he answered, nodding. "As it turns out, she wasn't even sure. Took her two days to actually decided that she liked me, too."

"Holy sh- holy crap," Tooru exclaimed, barely catching herself. "That must have been so nerve wracking."

"Switching schools had never seemed like such a good idea before then," Kaito replied with a chuckle, standing and taking both of their dishes to the sink. Tooru giggled. "But, even with that stress, I never regretted telling her…"

The invisible girl had followed her father into the kitchen, turning on the sink and starting to wash the dishes, apparently deep in thought. After a minute she finally spoke. "So...you think I should just tell him? Even if….if he doesn't like me back?"

Kaito simply nodded, pulling his daughter into a gentle embrace. "It's better to get it out there and know, than to hold it in and wonder."

* * *

The first term seemed to fly by. Izuku seemed to be getting more and more confident by the day, a fact which made Katsuki very happy, even though he'd die before he ever admitted it outloud. He was still a muttering mess at times, and would turn redder than a damn tomato whenever Invisalign said something nice to him, but his shyness and stuttering were almost non-existent at this point.

But there was something about the green-haired boy that had become more and more obvious to the blonde teen as the year progressed. Something that was getting more irritating with each passing day.

"Goddammit, Deku. When are you gonna just grow a pair and tell her?"

"Wh-what? T-tell who?" the boy stammered, obviously trying to deny whatever Katsuki was insinuating.

Katsuki growled in frustration. "Don't give me that bullshit. You know damn well who I'm talking about."

Izuku swallowed hard. "W-well yeah, b-but what do y-you mean? Tell her what?"

"When. Are you gonna tell her. That you like her?" he spoke through gritted teeth, a few small explosions echoed from his hands as his anger slowly got the best of him.

"I-I-I don't-"

"You fucking do!" A larger explosion burst from Katsuki's palm, causing the shorter boy to jump. He knew the blond wouldn't hit him, but that didn't mean he wouldn't let his anger show. "Don't you try to deny it, Deku. I've seen how you act around her; I've been watching it for almost 10 damn months now." He cracked his fingers as the two resumed their after school walk home. "Blushing when she talks to you, spending almost all your free time with her. I bet you'd even be staring at her all the time if you could. Makes me damn near vomit."

Izuku was silent for a long moment before he spoke. "W-why are you b-bringing this up, K-kacchan?"

The blonde sighed, trying hard to keep his agitation out of his voice. "I'm only gonna say this once, so you better damn well listen." He took a deep breath. "Believe it or not, I actually care about you, you shitty nerd. Invisalign obviously makes you happy, so you better tell her before some other piece of shit tries to make a move."

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see his green-haired friend smile a little. Feelings were something Katsuki often avoided talking about, so the fact that he was saying anything obviously meant he cared. "S-so what do you th-think I should d-do?"

"The hell do I look like, some kind of damn guru or something?" Katsuki growled. "Tell her you like her. Ask her out. I don't care what the hell you do, just do something." He turned and started heading in the opposite direction as the other teen, now that they had reached where their paths split. "And whatever you do, be sure to leave me the hell out of it!"

"I will. Thanks, Kacchan."

 _Damn Deku. I hope you don't go and fu- screw this up._ He quickly hid the smile that formed on his face.

* * *

Summer was finally drawing to a close when Izuku and Tooru found themselves yet again on the beach. All Might had called out on a major case, so the two were left to train on their own. Izuku had finally been allowed to activate One for All a few weeks earlier, and was slowly getting the hang of using it at 5%. The three had also discovered that the boy had indeed inherited some of Nana's original quirk; he'd broken two fingers during the initial trial but they had fully healed within an hour or so.

After a couple of rounds, during which Tooru had plenty of chances to show off some of the judo throws and locks her own trainer had been teaching her, the two teens decided it was time for a break. They sat with their backs to the concrete wall, basking in the cool breeze that blew in over the ocean.

"You said your suit upgrade should be done in a week or so?" Izuku asked, taking a drink from his water bottle.

Tooru nodded, rolling her shoulders slightly before grabbing a bottle of her own. "Yep. Dad's friend said the new shoes should make me almost totally silent. They were just having some trouble getting my hair into the fabric to make them invisible." The boy nodded in understanding, closing his eyes and leaning his head back. "I gotta say," she continued after a brief silence, "you're getting a lot better at avoiding some of my holds."

Izuku grinned at the praise. "Helps that I have a good teacher."

 _Did he really just wink at me?_ Tooru felt herself blush as she turned away slightly, drinking from her water bottle.

For a few minutes the two simply sat there, listening to the call of the sea birds watching as the sun behind them gleamed across the waves.

"You know," Izuku started slowly, "I-I think we can probably call it for the day. We've been training hard this week, it'll be ok if we take a break just for today." He turned to smile at his friend, who returned the gesture.

"It's like you read my mind or something." The two pushed themselves to their feet after gathering their things, making their way up the stairs and back onto the sidewalk.

As they walked, Izuku began rambling slightly about a new hero debut he'd read about. The hero had an odd quirk; it appeared that his whole body was made out of wood, and he was able to manipulate it at will. Tooru couldn't help but smile as her friend went on and on about the quirk, its possible uses and weaknesses, and even some possible partner's he'd work well with.

"I-Izuku?" Her voice halted the boy's ramblings in their tracks. "I was wondering if...w-well my dad won't be home from work for a while, and I… well…" _God, why is it so hard to ask-_

"Of course, Tooru." Izuku interrupted her train of thought. "You're welcome to come over any time."

 _That damn smile…_

As she followed the boy up a few flights of stairs, she was finally able to refind her voice. "A-and you're sure your mom won't mind?"

Izuku waved his hand, dismissing her worry. "Not at all. She loves having you over, remember? Besides, it looks like she's not home yet…" He jiggled the locked door handle to emphasize his point before pulling out his key.

The two teens kicked off their shoes before making their way into the small apartment. "Mind if I use a bathroom so I can change?" Tooru asked as they entered the kitchen.

"Of course. Feel free to use the shower if you want."

Tooru smiled at her friend. "That'd be great."

The boy led his friend to his bathroom, pointing out where fresh towels were and giving a brief explanation of the shower nobbs before closing the door on his way out. Once alone, the girl quickly freed herself of her sweaty work out clothes, depositing them by the door before starting the water.

Steam slowly filled the small room as Tooru allowed the warm water to spill over her. She took her time in rinsing the sweat from he body, letting her thoughts wander a little. _Now is probably the best chance I'm gonna get. Especially with the new term starting soon._

 _But what happens if he doesn't feel the same? What if he doesn't know? Can I take that?  
_

 _Remember what dad said? It's better to just get it out there…_

"Do I even have the courage to tell him?"

For a few minutes, the only sound in the room was the steady stream of water as Tooru quickly finished washing herself. Once dry, she took her time in pulling on her clean every day clothes, trying her best to delay what she knew she needed to do.

A voice from the other side of the door pulled her from her thoughts. "Hey, Tooru? Just wanted

to let you know, my mom probably won't be home until this evening."

 _Wonderful. Now I get to work up the courage to tell him while we're alone together._ "Ok, thanks for the heads up. I'll be out in just a moment." After finishing getting dressed, Tooru made her way out into the kitchen.

Izuku had taken up residence on the couch and was flipping through channels idly on the tv, but turned and smiled when he noticed her. "I was hoping I'd find something good to listen to before you finished, but haven't had any luck."

Tooru giggled as she took a seat at the opposite end of the couch, snatching the remote from his hand. "Let me see if I can't find us anything."

* * *

After catching the second half of an old superhero movie from before the dawn of quirks, which was followed by a delicious American style pizza courtesy of Izuku's mother, the decision was made that it was now or never. Izuku was walking Tooru down the stairs when they paused on one of the landings.

"T-tooru, I-" "H-hey Izuku-"

The two blushed.

"No, you go-" "It's ok, I'll-"

With a giggle, Tooru gestured for Izuku to speak first. He took a deep breath to steady himself. "Tooru, I...I-I was wondering if...maybe on friday we could, I dunno… maybe go get some dinner together or something?" _Wow, Izuku._ Really _laying on the charm there…_

Tooru's eyes widened slowly as his words registered. "I...Izuku, are you… Did…" She, too, had to steady herself. "I-I'd love to, Izuku."

Izuku felt his heart skip a beat. "R-really? You...you mean it?"

Her smile was almost blinding. "I really do Izuku." The smile faltered slightly. "B-but…do you mean l-like a...like a date?" Izuku blushed wildly as he nodded, not trusting his voice. The girl's smile returned full force as she threw her arms around the boy, pulling him into a tight embrace. "Oh, Izuku, I can't tell you how happy this makes me!"

The boy wore a face of stunned relief mixed with surprise. "Wait...that means you actually…"

"Like you?" The girl finished still smiling from ear to ear. "I do, Izuku. I really do like you."

* * *

"I'm home!"

Kaito looked up from the papers he was browsing at the kitchen table, watching as his daughter practically danced her way into the house. Though she was invisible, he could imagine the broad smile that was gracing her features. "Seems like someone's in a good mood this evening," he said with a grin, chuckling as Tooru plopped herself down across from him.

A contented sigh escaped her before she giggled happily. "I have had the best day ever," she stated wistfully, laying her head on her arms on the table.

"I am the happiest girl alive."


	12. May I Hold You

**Welcome back everyone, and HAPPY FREAKING NEW YEAR!**

 **I apologize in advance. Not much plot in this chapter, but I hope the fluff helps make up for that.**

 **I had a review asking about Tooru's parents and their quirks. For anyone else wondering, here's a quick explanation:**

 **For my story, her mom is able to turn herself invisible at will, but it does boost your metabolism in the process and can drain her body's energy stores. Her dad is a descendant of the first quirk user, the glowing baby, is able to admit light from his body by exciting his cells to the point where they emit photons. This also drains is body's energy, proportional to how much like he is admitting. Basically he can admit a surgical grade laser for about half a second before wearing himself out completely.**

 **As always, thank you so much for your continued support, and I hope you enjoy the fluff here.**

* * *

Izuku was barely aware of the apartment door opening and closing as his mother arrived, as the memories of a few hours ago still played in his mind. He was sure he had been dreaming when she said that she liked him. It had seemed real enough. Just as real as his own heart still hammering away at his ribcage.

"Izuku, is everything alright?" Somehow, his mother's voice breaks into his consciousness, pulling him from his catatonic state.

"Huh? Oh, y-yeah. I-I'm fine," he stammers, obviously not fine. He did his best to smile, not really sure if it looked creepy or fake.

His mother stared for a moment longer before turning and opening the refrigerator. "Well if there's something worrying you, you know you can always tell me, honey." _Fake, then. I tried._

"I know, Mom…" He hesitated, then slowly stood and moved to help with dinner.

"Could you fill this up with hot water for me?" Inko handed her son one of the smaller cooking pots, which he obediently took. His thoughts continued to turn through his mind, though on a different track than before.

"Uh...M-mom?" he started, shutting off the water and placing the pot on the stovetop. "I-I, uh… I have something to tell you." He could feel his face flushing. _Why is this harder than telling Tooru that I like her?_

"What is it, Izuku?" Inko sounded concerned at the seriousness of her son's tone. Upon seeing his sheepish smile and flushed complexion, her face quickly broke into a grin.

The boy wrung his hands nervously. "Well… y-you know how I asked you a w-while back about how to t-tell if s-someone likes you? I, uh… well, you see… I… I decided to just tell Tooru that I like her and she said she likes me to and now we kind of have a date planned for next weekend and I'm really nervous and I think I might be dreaming, but it all seems real and I just don't want to mess this up so I wanted to know-"

His nervous ramblings were cut short as his mother threw her arms around him, tears already welling in her eyes. "Oh Izuku! I'm so proud of you! This makes me so happy!" She pulled back and sniffled, smiling warmly at her son, who was smiling just as wide. "I'm sure you'll do just fine."

"Y-you really think so?"

Inko nodded. "I really do. You're a sweet boy, always trying to help people. I don't think you'll have any issues making her happy."

Izuku breathed a sigh of relief. It felt like some of the weight on his shoulders had vanished. Then he noticed how his mother's smile had changed, and was suddenly reminded why he'd been nervous about telling her.

"Just remember not to give me any grandchildren too soon, ok."

 _The teasing._

* * *

Ms. Fushiki couldn't help but feel a mix of pride and wonder as she sat in the middle of the courtroom, not really paying any attention to the proceedings. Instead, she simply watched as the red and yellow blob of heat crept by the other attendees, drawing as much attention as a stray speck of dust. Thanks to her Heat Sense quirk, the teacher was able to keep track of the invisible girl, and she was quite sure she was the only one in the building with that ability.

Over the last two months she'd watched as Tooru had put her heart and soul into training. The girl's stealth skills had improved to the point where she could give most security systems a hard time, while her hand-to-hand abilities could rival that of most high-schoolers. Something had set a fire under the girl, and Ms. Fushiki had a good idea what, or who, that something was.

After a few more minutes, the older woman made a short waving gesture, signalling for Tooru that the exercise was over and she could sit down. The girl bowed where she stood then quietly padded over to where the woman sat, taking a seat on the bench next to her.

"I don't think anyone noticed this time," Tooru stated, her smile evident in her voice. "Even the guy who had his pen in his shirt pocket."

The teacher smiled in return as she took the offered handful of pens that were the objective of the days exercise. "I saw. He actually did notice, but not for a good couple of minutes." She had to stifle a laugh at the memory of the bewildered face the man had sported when he'd realized his fancy pen had gone missing.

As the two left the courthouse, Ms. Fushiki made a stop by the entry desk to drop off the newly-acquired pens. "I have to say, Hagakure, your progress has been quite impressive," she commented as she and her student stepped out into the cool fall air. The weather had been quite mild for November, something both teacher and student had greatly appreciated. "You're really serious about getting into UA, huh?"

She watched as Tooru's face started to glow a little brighter. "Y-yeah, I really want to become a hero and help people. Izuku and I are trying really hard to get in."

Ms. Fushiki couldn't hide her grin at the mention of the boy's name. She clearly remembered the day when Tooru had come into the gym practically bouncing with excitement. The day before had been her first actual date with the green-haired boy, and from what she could tell everything had gone very smoothly to say the least. "Sounds like he's been having quite a good influence on you, young lady." Her voice echoed the grin on her face. "Especially with how much harder you've been working lately."

"Well my quirk only really helps with stealth," Tooru stated as the pair made their way back to the gym. "Sure it can mask my intentions with hand-to-hand, but that'll only get me so far. If I really want to be a hero, I need some skill and strength to back it up."

The teacher tapped her chin thoughtfully. "You're still helping him clean up the beach?" The girl nodded. "Good, keep that up. That should help with the strength part."

Tooru nodded again. "That's what I thought, too. I'll try to push myself even more there."

The grin on the woman's face turned into a true smile. _If anyone I know has the drive to become a hero, it's this girl._

 _And if anyone can help her get there, it sounds like this Izuku is the perfect one._

* * *

Tooru pulled the blankets even closer as the winter storm raged outside her window. After the mild fall weather they'd had, the sudden intensity of winter hardly came as a surprise, though that didn't make it any more pleasant.

A flash broke through the room, and the subsequent clap of thunder had the girl burying her face in her pillow, choking back a sob of fear. The howl of the wind and pounding rain only made the whole situation worse. With shaking hands, she reached for the phone resting on her nightstand.

 _Me (20:23): Are you awake still?_

She tried her best to steady her breathing, only to yelp and panic slightly more as another clap of thunder split the night. Thankfully she didn't have to wait long for a reply.

 _Izuku3 (20:24): I am._

 _Izuku3 (20:25): Do you need to come over?_

 _Me (20:25): Please?_

 _Izuku3 (20:27): The door is unlocked. You can let yourself in._

Without a moment of hesitation, Tooru threw herself from her bed, quickly pulling on a coat and grabbing her apartment key before rushing out the door. She practically sprinted down the walkway to the stairs, taking them three at a time up to the top floor. Thankfully the walkway was well shielded from the rain, but the cold and the thunder still shook her to her core.

The door to Izuku's apartment was unlocked, just as he'd promised. Once inside, she quickly shed her coat and shoes, leaving them both by the front door before moving into the apartment. Just as she rounded the corner to the living room, a massive crack of thunder shook the building. Tooru screamed with fear, diving onto the couch next to her boyfriend and burying her face into his shoulder.

Izuku said nothing, whether because of surprise or worry, she didn't know. Instead, she felt a hand rest gently on her back while another ran slowly through her hair. She still shook, tensing and gripping the boy's shirt when another echoing boom sounded, but she could feel herself calming down.

After a few minutes, Tooru pulled her face away from Izuku's shoulder, curling up into his side in a more comfortable and relaxed manner. "Thank you"

Izuku smiled down at her, fingers still running through her hair. "Y-you know I'm here for you. I meant it w-when I said it, and I still mean it." Warmth spread through her whole body at the words. "Th-that being said," his smile turned into a grin, "do you mind if I get us a drink? I'm pretty thirsty."

"Ugh… _Fine._ " A mock pout formed on the invisible girl's face as she relinquished her grip on the boy. He chuckled slightly before standing and heading to the kitchen, returning a little later with a tall glass of juice for the two to share. Tooru had taken it upon herself to find a mindless TV show to have playing in the background, settling on a cooking competition show before snuggling back into her boyfriend's side.

"S-so," Izuku said after a minute. "I didn't know you were afraid of storms like this."

The girl nodded slowly against his shoulder. "Usually, I can go to my dad, but he's at a conference this weekend," she explained. "I...I didn't know what else to do…"

The minutes stretched into hours. The couple eventually decided to order food from a nearby sushi place that did delivery, since Izuku's mom was under the weather and had been in bed all day. As the two sat and ate, Tooru could see the bags under Izuku's eyes more clearly.

"Um… Izu?" He looked up at her tiredly. "How long have you been awake?"

The boy dipped his head in embarrassment, mumbling out something that Tooru didn't quite catch. Upon further prodding, he repeated himself. "S-since yesterday morning. With mom sick, I've been trying my best to take care of her."

A sharp jab from his girlfriend's chopsticks brought a quiet yelp from the boy. He gave her a betrayed look as he rubbed his arm. "I know you're worried about her, and I know you want to help people. But you can't take -DON'T roll your eyes at me- you can't take care of someone else if you don't take care of yourself." She jabbed him again for emphasis.

"Ok, ok. I'll get some sleep." He swatted her chopsticks as they came in a third time. "Just stop stabbing me, geez." Tooru giggled lightly as she turned back to her food.

When they both had finished, Izuku reached for her empty box, but quickly had his hand swatted. "No, no no no. You go get ready for bed, mister." The green-haired boy pulled a fake pout, which only earned him another jab from his girlfriend's chopsticks, then hurried off to his bedroom. Once he was out of sight, the girl quietly gathered up the remains of their dinner, setting utensils in the sink and throwing out any garbage before returning to the couch to watch more TV.

The storm outside had mostly passed, but it was still raining heavily against the window. Even still, Tooru definitely did not want to be left alone tonight. Silently praising herself for still being in her pajamas, she padded her way to Izuku's bedroom door, carefully twisting the handle and pushing her way inside.

The themed alarm clock on the nightstand was the only light in the room as Tooru slid the door shut behind her. As her eyes adjusted, she could see the sleeping form of her boyfriend, lying on his side, facing the wall. With as much care as possible, she gently pulled back the covers just enough for her to slide in, then pulled herself into a spooning position with him and laid her arm over his side.

Izuku started to stir at the contact, though it took nearly a full minute for the situation to register with him. "T-T-T-Tooru?! W-w-what are y-y-you-"

"Shhhh," she cut him off, putting one finger over his lips, suddenly very aware of how intimate of a position they were in. _What the hell was I thinking?_ "I, uh… I really didn't want to be alone tonight…s-so I thought I'd just...join you…"

"Y-y-you...I-I-I mean… S-sorry, this i-is just the f-first time I-I've been in th-this situation." The boy was obviously still freaking out, but was trying to be ok with sharing a bed with her. "A-are you s-sure this is o-ok?"

Tooru nodded, ignoring the internal screaming that was going on. "I'm sure."

It took a few minutes for Izuku to finally relax, but once that was achieved, sleep followed quickly. Tooru felt his breathing even out, hearing the soft snores that told her he was fast asleep. With a smile and a blush, Tooru lifted her head and left a light kiss on the boy's cheek.

"I love you, Izuku."


	13. Visions of the Future

Izuku swallowed hard as he stood in front of the testing facility, feeling his heart race in his chest. He'd spent most of his winter break, as well as a good portion of his free time during the first term of third year, studying his heart out. But all the hours of study and practice tests couldn't stave off the anxiety currently building in his chest.

"Hey," the harsh voice to his side caught his attention. "Snap out of it, will ya? There's no turning back now. And besides, you've already studied your ass off for this thing. If there's anyone aside from me who can pass, its you."

The green-haired boy couldn't help but smile at the words. "Thanks, Kacchan." _But could you maybe tone down the pride for, like, just a few minutes?_

Katsuki huffed before shoving his hands in his pockets and walking off towards the open doors. "Just don't go screwing this up and making an ass of yourself."

To his other side, Tooru giggled. "You know he means well, Izu," she hummed, then nudged her boyfriend forward. "C'mon. The sooner we pass this, the sooner we can get on our way." The wink and knowing smile she gave turned Izuku into a blushing stuttering mess, but he started walking nonetheless.

Upon entering the facility, Tooru had to part ways with Izuku so as to not be late for her own test. The boy watched silently for a moment as more and more hopefuls entered the building and were directed to their respective testing rooms.

"Young man?" one of the proctors called to him. "Do you need help finding where to go?"

Izuku blushed slightly, turning to face the lady who'd spoken. "Y-yes, actually. I actually need to take my test verbally."

The lady nodded and hummed in recognition. "Oh, so you're the blind boy we heard about. Midora, was it?"

"Midoriya," he corrected. _They heard about me? What-_

"Oh yes, sorry." The lady chuckled lightly, pulling out a thin file from a box on the table. "If I could have you follow me, I'll take you to your testing room." With that, she motioned for Izuku to follow, which he did. Almost immediately, she turned to apologize, but froze as she noticed the boy walking right alongside her. "I'm sorry, I-"

"No, no. It's fine." Izuku waved his hand, smiling. "M-my quirk actually helps me see through my hearing. Kind of like echolocation." The proctor nodded in understanding before leading him down the hallway and into one of the classrooms, leaving him there while she went to find his tester.

After a minute of waiting, the door reopened, revealing a shorter man in a button-down dress shirt and slacks with a necktie hanging loosely from under the collar. "Midoriya Izuku?" the newcomer asked as he walked to the long table on the far side of the room, seating himself behind it.

The boy nodded in reply. "That's me, sir. I-I assume you're my tester?"

"You would be correct. My name is Maijima Higari." The man shuffled some of the papers on the table around, making sure everything was organized as Izuku took his seat. "Ready to begin?"

"As ready as I'll ever be."

* * *

"For the last time, Clearasil, I don't have a damn clue!"

"But he's taking the same test we did, right? He should be done by now."

She could tell Katsuki was getting irritated, if the nearly audible grinding of teeth was any indication. "Also, Clearasil? Where did that one come from, Boom Boy?"

The blonde shrugged, obviously grateful for the change in topic. "Maybe I'm branching out. The hell does it matter?"

Tooru rocked from side to side to signal her indecision. "It doesn't. Though I think I might start to miss being called Invisalign."

With a huff, Katsuki turned back to facing the building, then quickly broke into a grin. "Looks like the nerd's finally done."

The girl whipped her head up, eyes landing on a familiar mop of green hair as her boyfriend exited the testing facility, a half-empty water bottle in his hand. He seemed somewhat worn out, but he wore a triumphant grin as he made his way towards his two friends. "I don't know about you two," Izuku rasped as he drew closer, "but I'm ready to collapse for a bit."

"Did the staff give you a longer test or something? I thought that shit would be easy for you." There was a hint of worry in the explosion quirk user's voice, unnoticeable unless you knew what to look for.

Izuku just shook his head, taking a quick drink from his bottle. "My tester had some questions about my sight. Plus, it takes longer when you have someone reading the questions to you rather than just reading it yourself." He shook the water bottle for emphasis. "Kinda wears you out after a bit."

Tooru moved further to the edge of the bench she and Katsuki had been occupying, giving her boyfriend room to sit down. "So how do you think you did?"

The boy immediately flushed at her words, looking down for a moment before fishing in his pocket. "W-well. I, uh… I-I actually already h-have my score…" He pulled out a folded piece of paper and passed it to Tooru who, after studying Izuku's face for a minute, slowly unfolded it.

"Come on, I'm sure it's not that b-" Tooru's voice was cut silent as what she was seeing. She even double- and triple-checked that the UA seal was, in fact, on the paper.

"Lemme see that." Katsuki snatched the paper from her grasp, eyes going wide as what was written fully registered.

" _100%_ _Can't wait to see you next year. ~Maijima Higari"_

"IZUKU!" Tooru squealed with delight, pulling the green haired teen into a tight embrace. "You aced it! I'm so proud of you."

The embrace only lasted for a few moments before Tooru's mind went to autopilot.

Her lips met his before she could stop herself.

* * *

Fifteen years of life could not have prepared him for this. He knew it was an eventuality; afterall, the two had been dating for nearly a year at this point. Even still, it was something he'd only ever thought of as a far-off dream.

Today was already turning out to be better than a dream. Izuku had just met the pro hero Power Loader and had then proceeded to get a perfect score on the UA written entrance exam, two things which were, quite literally, dreams come true.

But this… This was something else. His _girlfriend_ was kissing him! Like, with her lips. ON HIS LIPS!

So he did the only thing he could think of at that moment.

Nothing.

* * *

Inko couldn't help but smile as she stepped carefully away from the bedroom door, closing it silently behind her. Izuku and Tooru had come home from the exam about an hour ago, hand in hand and beaming. It wasn't until the girl had left to help her father with some errands that Izuku had revealed what happened. Pride welled in her chest as she glanced towards the paper resting on the counter, remembering how her son had told her how everything went. How he and Tooru…

Her eyes wandered to the bedroom door again, where her son was now sleeping, the memory of a few months ago coming back to her mind.

 _She could hear the two teens in the kitchen. It was obvious they were trying their best to be considerate and keep the noise level down, but a mother's hearing is nothing to sneeze at._

" _-want to help people," Tooru's voice filtered in through the door. "But you can't take -DON'T roll your eyes at me- you can't take care of someone else if you don't take care of yourself."_

You tell him, girl, _Inko thought, smiling to herself before taking a small drink from the glass of water on her nightstand. She listened a while longer before drifting off to sleep again._

 _When she next woke up, she was greeted by silence. She pulled herself into a sitting position with a groan, giving her body a minute to adjust before standing and walking towards the kitchen, empty glass in hand._

 _Inko knew she hadn't been dreaming when she saw the delivery boxes in the trash can. A smile crossed her face as she refilled her drink, remembering the bits of conversation she'd overheard. Knowing Izuku had someone else watching out for him definitely put her heart at ease. Just as she was about to head back to bed, however, she noticed something out of the corner of her eye._

 _Tooru's jacket, hanging in the entryway._

 _The woman stepped towards the front door, at first fearing that the girl had left the coat behind when she'd left, but quickly dismissed that thought when she saw that her shoes were still there as well. All this did was bring about a new thought._ Where-

 _Her answer came in the form of hushed voices emanating from her son's room. As quietly as she could, Inko moved to the shut door and pressed her ear against the wood._

" _-lly didn't want to be alone tonight…s-so I thought I'd just...join you…"_

" _Y-y-you...I-I-I mean… S-sorry, this i-is just the f-first time I-I've been in th-this situation. A-are you s-sure this is o-ok?"_

 _Inko twisted the handle slowly, pushing the door open just enough for her to peek into the dark room. The sight before her was what she had expected, but it filled her with warmth nonetheless. Tooru's clothed form was cuddled up against Izuku's back, one arm over his waist. It looked like izuku's fingers were intertwined with hers, but she couldn't tell from this distance. Just as she was about to back out and close the door, she saw the girl's form shift and was barely able to make out the whispered confession._

 _Her smile didn't leave until well after she fell back asleep._

"You see, Izuku," Inko muttered to herself, pulling herself from her thoughts and refocusing on the dinner she was making. "I told you you'd have no problem making her happy."

* * *

"Alright, nothing to worry about," Izuku muttered as he paced back and forth through his room. "It's not like this is your first time going on a date with her or anything. You've been dating her for almost a year; you should be used to this by now." The boy glanced at his clock for what must have been the eighth time in the last three minutes. He still had over two hours before he was supposed to meet Tooru at her apartment for their date.

"Still, we just had our first kiss yesterday so…. I dunno, maybe that changes things now?"

He froze at the words, remembering the moment in question with vivid detail. Especially his own reaction.

With a groan, Izuku flopped backwards onto his bed, hands covering his face. _Why did I have to freeze up like that? Why couldn't I have just kissed her back like a normal person? I just really hope she didn't take it as some kind of rejection…_

 _Well, now you have to make sure she doesn't think that._

The implications caused his brain to temporarily short out. There were only two possibilities in his mind that would make sure Tooru knew he didn't reject her kiss.

Tell her "I love you," or kiss her in return.

"I-I-I can't just k-k-kiss her out of nowhere. I-I'm supposed to just kinda...let that happen. Right? That's what happens with that kind of thing, right? So that just leaves…."

 _Do I love her?_

Izuku slowly pulled himself to his feet, barely aware of his movements as he padded to the bathroom and started the shower.

 _I...think so? What...what does it feel like to love someone?_

* * *

Tooru was practically skipping as she and Izuku made their way towards the train station. The boy couldn't help but smile at the seemingly endless energy his girlfriend was radiating.

"Ok, so I know most arcades are just video games and stuff, but I really think you'll like this one. I used to go there all the time after school."

Izuku blushed lightly. "I've...n-never actually been to an arcade before," he confessed. "You s-sure you don't mind explaining it all to me?"

Tooru giggled lightly. "Of course not, silly. I kinda figured you'd be new to it all, anyway. Though I...may have forgotten you still can't see screens when I pitched the idea." Now it was her turn to blush. "But there's still lots of other games that we can play..."

The smile on Izuku's face grew a little wider as his girlfriend - _still not used to that_ \- continued gushing about all the possibilities. He knew how difficult it could be for them to plan outings like this one, especially considering the limits his blindness caused. Because of it, nearly all of their dates up to this point had involved going to the park or trying out a new restaurant. No matter how much his hearing and touch allowed him to see, screens were the one barrier he couldn't cross. Movies, TV, video games; all of it was out of the question.

It was touching, to say the least, that Tooru was still trying. Sure, there would be quite a few things he wouldn't be able to do at the arcade, but she didn't seem to mind that at all. Instead, she just went on and on about everything they _could_ do. He was absolutely sure he would treasure this day for years to come.

His thoughts continued to wander a little before Tooru's voice pulled him back. "-uku? Izuku, you in there?"

"Huh? Wha- S-sorry. I-I got a little lost in thought there."

"I figured as much," Tooru replied with a giggle. "Seems like you've had a lot on your mind this whole time."

Izuku nodded slowly, noticing how the girl's face became more serious. "I-I guess… I'm just really happy. I know going to an arcade can be a really simple thing, b-but this really means a lot to me, you know."

Tooru's smile returned a little softer this time. "I think I understand. We've been kinda limited, what with school and training. Not to mention…" she gestured vaguely towards Izuku, but didn't elaborate. She didn't have to. "Besides, I figured I could… n-never mind."

The hesitation was not lost on Izuku. "You figured….?" Apprehensive as he was, he had to try hard to keep from laughing at the embarrassed look that crossed her face.

"Nooo," Tooru pouted. Izuku was sure she was blushing. "It...it's cheesy and you'll laugh at me."

He gave what he hoped was a reassuring smile. "Cheesy can be good, right? I promise I won't laugh."

Tooru fidgeted slightly, remaining silent for a while. "I-I was gonna say, 'I figured I could share something special to me with some _one_ special to me.' " The words came out in a rush. "I know, it's dumb and cheesy, but you really mean a lot to me, and I wanted to do something special, but-"

"Tooru." Izuku's voice cut the girl off. Tears were starting to form in his eyes. "Th-that really means s-so much. I-I don't think it's cheesy a-at all." His smile brightened as he took her hand in his, squeezing lightly for emphasis, hoping to convey even a small portion of the warmth she made him feel.

* * *

An hour or two after Izuku and Tooru entered the arcade, a lanky figure darted into an alley just a few blocks away.

"Now I just gotta lay low or find somewhere to hide-"

Voices cut off the figure's thoughts, causing him to dive behind a dumpster. He could see a trio of middle schoolers making their way towards where he was hiding, though it appeared they hadn't noticed him.

"Put that shit away. You know how much trouble we'd be in if someone caught you smoking."

"Relax man, no one's gonna see-"

Small explosions crackled out of the first boy's palm. "I'm not gonna let you risk my perfect record just cause you picked up some shitty habit from your old man." Another explosion cracked the air as he knocked the whole packet of cigarettes from the other boy's hand.

 _Looks like I just found my ticket out of here…_

* * *

Time flew by as the couple bounced from game to game, not really worrying about how many tickets they earned. Izuku seemed to catch on pretty quickly with most of the games, though they both quickly discovered he had an uncanny ability to nail the center hole in skee-ball.

Throughout the entirety of their date, Izuku found himself focusing more on Tooru than on the games. She seemed to truly be in her element, like she was able to let go of her worries and let loose all of her excitability. He smiled as she celebrated even the smallest of victories and brushed off every failure.

Many times, when she smiled or laughed, he felt as if the rest of the world simply fell away.

 _Maybe that's what it feels like?_

After exhausting all of their coins, Tooru decided to take her boyfriend to her favorite nearby eatery, something Izuku was grateful for as he'd eaten a fairly small breakfast before their date began. He pocketed the stacks of tickets the two had earned, then followed his girlfriend out into the sun.

"Geez, Izu," the girl said with a grin. "I know I said it in there, but if I didn't know any better I'd think you had an aiming quirk or something."

Izuku chuckled slightly, flushing a little at the praise. "Y-you're one to talk. Apparently you absolutely killed it with the dancing game." It was true; while he hadn't been able to see the screen, he could tell by the reactions of others watching that Tooru had performed each song just about perfectly.

The girl in question giggled. "That's just cause I've had lots of practice. I've played those songs at least a dozen times each."

The banter continued as the two made their way down the sidewalk. As they neared the corner where the eatery was, they saw a large crowd that had formed about halfway down the next block. With a quick glance to each other, Izuku and Tooru took off running to investigate.

Almost immediately, Izuku noticed the pro heroes on the scene and eagerly pushed through the crowd to get a closer look. His heart rate increased as he realized the situation: A villain had taken a hostage and apparently caused a lot of damage in the process. Backdraft was doing his best to keep numerous fires in the nearby buildings at bay, while Kamui Woods and Death arms were… _just standing there?_

"What's going on?" he wondered out loud. "Why aren't they doing anything?"

"I think-"

"Our quirk's are pretty useless right now," Kamui Woods answered, startling the boy and accidentally interrupting Tooru. "With all the fire around, I'm at a huge disadvantage. Plus, Death Arms can't really punch...whatever liquid that villain is made of."

 _That explains the weird sounds I'm getting from the villain,_ Izuku thought. He opened his mouth to reply when a new voice cut through the rest.

"GET THE HELL OFF OF ME, YOU DAMN VIL-" The voice was cut off as the owner was apparently pulled entirely into the villain's body, but it was enough.

"KACCHAN!" Izuku shoved his way past the heroes. He ignored their shouts, ignored the fires. He ignored the danger.

A single thought filled his mind.

 _I have to save him!_

* * *

 **Yes, I'm messing with the way UA does their entrance exam. Basically the idea is that prospective student take the written portion during their last year of Junior High. Then, in order to get into a specific department (support, heroics, etc.), they take a practical exam a few weeks before the start of the school year. Not passing the practical means they are put into general studies until they either retake the test or gain approval for transfer by a faculty member**


	14. Resonant Energy

**So after I first published this chapter, I realized I'd forgotten this end section. There were also a few flaws that a friend pointed out that I (hopefully) fixed. Anyway...**

* * *

Blue and red flashed off the broken walls of the alley as the police did their best to disperse the gathered crowd. The villain had been taken into custody a few minutes prior, leaving behind a few officers to clear the scene and take witness statements. One of the witnesses, a boy with blonde hair and red eyes, sat off to the side on a piece of rubble, staring at his hands, ignoring the heroes who were praising his bravery.

After a minute, Katsuki pushed himself to his feet, eyes scanning the area before his gaze landed on the two people he was looking for. Without thinking, he walked over to his two friends, shoving his hands in his pockets and putting on the best bored scowl he could muster.

"Hey, Deku." The green-haired boy stiffened slightly before standing as well, Tooru quickly following suit. "We need to talk."

Izuku's face paled slightly as he swallowed and nodded. "I-I'm sorry, Tooru. I'll text you later?" The girl gestured in understanding, whispering something the blond couldn't hear, before hugging her boyfriend and turning to leave.

Without another word, Katsuki started walking in the opposite direction, not waiting for his friend to catch up. His mind was racing, trying to come to terms with what had just happened. Why had Izuku rushed in like that? How had he been able to hold his ground against the villain for as long as he had?

"K-Kacchan? What's...y-you wanted to talk?" The blonde remained silent, fists clenched in his pockets. Something about the whole situation bothered him, and not just the fact that his best friend could have gotten himself killed.

A long minute passed before Katsuki spoke. "You're a damn idiot, you know that?" He tried his best to keep his tone low, to keep from shouting, but it was a struggle. "You almost got your shitty ass killed."

"I-I know that, b-but we both made it out ok, so-"

"That's not the point!" A small explosion burst from the blonde boy's palm as he pulled his hand free of his pocket, turning to face the shorter teen. "What if All Might hadn't been there to save your ass, huh? What would have happened then?"

Izuku bowed his head. "I-I couldn't just stand there. I… I don't even know _why_ I did what I did. I-it was like my feet just...moved on their own." The boy's fists clenched until his knuckles turned white. "It's not like the other heroes were doing anything..."

Katsuki's eyes widened at the words. Never in his life did he expect to hear his friend say something bad about heroes. _Well, except for that one…_ The bitterness and masked anger in his voice gave the blonde boy pause.

The implications of the words hit him a moment later, causing a mix of emotions to bubble up in his chest. "Wait…are you saying you still want to be a hero? Even afte-"

Izuku snapped.

* * *

Izuku had always admired heroes. For as long as he could remember, he would listen to the news or 'read' articles describing hero fights, analyze heroes' quirks, and always have his ears open for any up-and-coming pros. He even could find good things to say about Endeavor, given the right circumstances. His biggest dream in life had been to become a hero himself one day.

Then he lost his sight. His dreams were shattered before he had any chance of fulfilling them. How could he save someone he couldn't see? How could he fight a villain without his eyes?

" _I'm sure, in your own way, you'll be an amazing hero."_

Her words had awoken something within him: a desire to overcome, to be more than his limitations, to push beyond and do what everyone said was impossible. And it had worked. Thanks to Tooru and Nana, he had cleared more than half of Dagoba beach and expected to finish the rest within a few months. He had the tools to become the hero he'd always dreamed of becoming.

But the world couldn't see that. His best friend couldn't see that. All anyone saw was a cripple.

And to make matters worse, he couldn't even tell Kacchan about his quirk. He'd had to keep everything a secret for a year and a half, and it was tearing him apart.

"Wait…are you saying you still want to be a hero? Even afte-"

"YES, KACCHAN!" The force of Izuku's voice caused the blonde to take a step back, eyes going wider. He was done hiding. "I never stopped! All I've ever wanted was to be a hero. Even after going blind! _Especially_ after what happened back there!"

Bewilderment and confusion crossed Katsuki's face, cutting off whatever counter argument he was forming. "Do you know why no one was doing anything? It was because their quirks were useless! Well, so what?" He took a shaking breath before looking his friend dead in the eye.

"Heroes are more than just quirks!"

* * *

 _That kid,_ Nana thought to herself as she finally broke free from the gathered reporters. _I'm gonna have to have a little talk with him about self preservation_

She'd heard the commotion coming from the alleyway on her way home from the grocery store and managed to make it to the scene undetected. The presence of a villain had come as no surprise to her, obviously. What _had_ surprised her, however, was the person fighting the villain.

 _I have to admit that he held his own quite well. Not too surprising, considering how hard he's been training. Not to mention I took down that villain with a single Hurricane Fist._

Reverting to her 'true form,' Nana circled back around to retrieve her groceries, making sure nothing had been stolen or damaged in the commotion. Satisfied, she turned and began walking home.

A few minutes later, she could hear the shouting. One voice was obviously her successor, who seemed to have lost all patience. The other voice was familiar, but she couldn't quite place it. Nana quickly ducked around a corner near the two boys to have a better vantage.

"-ou know why no one was doing anything? It was because their quirks were useless!" She cringed at that. _Well, that may have been the case, but that's no excuse._ "Well, so what?" her protegee continued. "Heroes are more than just quirks."

 _That's the spirit!_

The blonde boy quickly cut him off. _Wait, that's the boy who'd been captured!_ "Maybe not! But quirks make a big fucking difference, Deku! How long do you think someone without a quirk would last in a hero school, in UA even. NOT A DAMN SECOND! It may be your lifelong dream, but you've got no fucking chance without a quirk."

She could see the tears forming in Izuku's eyes as he shouted back. "Well that sure as hell isn't gonna stop me from trying! My vision has gotten to the point that I can put up a fight. You just saw that. How can I not at least try?"

"You're just gonna get yourself hurt, Deku! Sure, you can 'hear the world' or some bullshit, but you're still fucking quirkless! YOU! CAN'T! BE! A! HERO!"

"Now wait just one minute!" Without thinking, Nana transformed into her All Might persona, stepping out from around the corner where she'd been hiding.

"All Might?" The blonde's eyebrows shot up. "What the fu-"

"Young man," she interrupted. "I think you've definitely got the wrong idea there."

The boy's mouth hung open for a moment as he stared dumbly at the hero. Nana wanted to rip the kid a new one right there, but she held herself back. "Judging by his actions back there, I'd say your friend here definitely has the heart of a hero. He risked his own safety to help someone in need, while pro heroes stood by and watched." She flashed her trademark All Might smile before adding, "if that's not a mark of a hero, then I don't know what is."

Izuku's smile brightened at the praise, but the blonde boy's scowl returned. "Heart's good and all, but the nerd's still quirkless, not to mention blind. Hell, put those together, and he's basically a cripple."

All Might's smile faded slowly as she shifted her gaze between the two boys. After a long moment of silence, she released a breath. "You may be right, but…that never stopped me." As she spoke, she slowly let her form fade. The wrinkles on her face reformed, the definition leaving her muscles as she revealed her true form.

Katsuki's eyes blew wide open. "What… How…"

"Surprised?" Nana said with a soft smile. "Well, this is still me, Kid."

"Wait, what the hell do you mean, 'that never stopped you'?" The scowl had returned in full force. "You're All Might! There's no way you're a-"

"A _cripple_?" Nana almost spat the word at him, causing the boy to snap his mouth shut. The woman took a long, deep breath to calm herself. "I may still have my power, Kid, but not for much longer." She turned her back to the two teens and slowly raised her shirt, showing off what she knew to be a jagged keloid scar that twisted across her back and side. They both gasped in tandem. _That's right, I never actually showed this to Midoriya._ "A long while back, I had a run in with a particularly nasty villain. He gave me this for my trouble." Lowering her shirt, Nana turned back to face the two.

"Keeping up my hero form leaves me exhausted. Using it for too long actually causes a good amount of pain, and I lose strength the longer I keep it up."

"Na- All Might," Izuku started, barely catching himself. "A-are you… do you think…"

Nana held up her hand, cutting the boy off before turning back to the blonde. _Bakugou, that's what it was._ "For these last few years, I've been looking for a successor. And a bit over a year ago," she turned to smile at Izuku, "I found one."

* * *

A brief silence fell between the three as Katsuki mulled over the hero's words in his mind. "So… what you're saying is that you think Deku here can be the next All Might? Yeah, that sounds great and all, especially with the damn nerd always going on about heroes and shit, but he's still quirkless. Even if he _does_ become a hero, he'll never be as powerful as either of us."

The smile on All Might's face - _still can't believe this is fucking All Might-_ turned almost condescending, making the blonde boy even more pissed off about the whole situation.

"You're absolutely right, Kiddo," the heroine replied. "Your explosions make it so you punch much harder than most people, and my quirk amplifies my strength exponentially. There's no way young Midoriya here could keep up." Katsuki smirked to himself, glancing over at the green haired boy who...didn't look phased at all? The smirk faltered.

"Lucky for him, he's not quirkless. At least, not anymore."

Katsuki's face turned to one of shock as the words registered, before he turned to glare at his friend. He felt his chest burn with… Anger? Frustration? Sadness? "Deku…What the fu-"

"Damn, kid. Would you let me finish before you start blowing shit up?" The agitation in the hero's voice caused the blonde to pause. He hadn't even noticed the explosions forming on his palms. All Might took a deep breath before continuing. "I'm assuming you've heard or read the speculations about what my quirk actually is."

He nodded. "It's a kind of muscle enhancement or some shit, right?"

All Might smiled and shook her head. "That's the most common guess, but no. My quirk is, in reality, a stockpile quirk that can be passed on. It stores the strength, will, and, in rare instances, quirks of its users, transferring it from wielder to wielder. Midoriya, here, is the newest holder of this power." Her smile faded slightly. "When I said I was looking for a successor, it wasn't just for someone to take over as the Symbol of Peace, it was also for someone to take my power."

She raised her hand to cut off the blonde's rebuttal. "I'll still be All Might, in the meantime. It takes a while for my power to disappear entirely."

Katsuki was at a loss. He'd always seen Izuku as someone weak, someone who needed protection. Ever since the accident, he'd promised himself that he'd be the one to protect him when needed. Besides, if anyone decided to pick on the nerd, it'd just give Katsuki a chance to prove how strong he was.

But now, he has a quirk? He has _All Might's_ quirk? He may not have been as obsessed with quirks as Deku was, but he still knew some things. Plus, giving away a quirk is impossible, isn't it?

 _Would All Might lie about something like this?_

A hand resting on his shoulder pulled him from his thoughts. He turned to see Izuku smiling up at him, eyes not quite meeting his. "Think of it this way, Kacchan," the shorter boy said. "If- no, _when_ we both get into UA, we'll be rivals. We'll be able to help each other get even stronger."

Katsuki huffed, his mind still reeling from the overload of information, but he grinned back nonetheless. "You're on, Deku. Lets just see if you can keep up!"

* * *

 _You know, if it hadn't been All Might, I'd have thought the whole thing was bullshit._

A rock skidded across the sidewalk, displaced by the blonde teen's shoe as he kicked it.

 _Still, Deku with a damn quirk?_ His eyes were fixed on the sunset overhead. He'd walked home this way so many times, it had almost become second nature to him. _I don't think I'd believe it even if I did see it…_

Katsuki's pace slowed as he neared his house. Gazing down at his hands, he let off two small explosions before looking back up into the sky. There was not a doubt in his mind that he would be making it into UA's heroics course. But Deku?

" _All I've ever wanted was to be a hero. Even after going blind!"_

" _Think of it this way, Kacchan. If- no,_ when _we both get into UA, we'll be rivals."_

His signature smirk slowly spread across his face.

"Well, Deku. Quirkless or not, I'm gonna be pissed if you back out on that promise." A few explosions let loose.

"'Cause I may not be able to protect you otherwise."

* * *

 **All right, this is definitely a shorter chapter, but I hope it serves its purpose in explaining how I'm making Bakugou in the story. He's still going to be loud, explosive, and prideful, but he definitely has different reasons for wanting to be a hero.**

 **Also, somebody asked about whether or not Izuku would be able to read something printed on a piece of paper, seeing as how he can 'see' freckles on Tooru. The answer is yes, provided the printer actually makes a slight indent on the page or leaves enough ink that it has a physical presence rather than just being the stain. The only problem is that since he went blind at such a young age, he only knows how to read Braille currently, so that is currently a problem.**

 **Anyway, thanks again for all of your support. I'm glad people seem be enjoying the story as much as I am enjoying writing it. Next up, we will be moving more into solid canon territory and the chapters will probably be getting longer. Until next time!**


	15. Unbidden Memories

If there was any one thing Tooru missed the most about her old house, it was her easy roof access. With the amount of anxiety that was building inside her, she wanted nothing more than to lay out under the stars and let her mind drift. Instead, she had to settle for the next best thing.

Intricate guitar riffs filled the small space that was her bedroom, but did little to calm her fraying mind as she fretted about the exam the following day. She gazed up at the ceiling from where she lay on her bed, doubts filling her thoughts. _Am I ready for this? Was all my training enough to make it?_

No one knew exactly what UA's Hero Course exam would consist of. The most common speculation was that it would be some kind of large scale combat simulation, giving the judges opportunities to see the examinee's quirks in action. Tooru was not overly thrilled at the idea, since physical prowess was not one of her strong suits. Sure, she had been doing a lot of hand-to-hand training with Ms. Fushiki and had joined Izuku for some of his strength exercises with All Might. But the doubt was there, gnawing away at her resolve.

How could she compare to her friends? Izuku was going to pass, that much was certain. His new quirk was both flashy and powerful, and was perfect for hero work. Bakugou's quirk was just as powerful and well suited for a hero, if you could look past his arrogance for two seconds. And Tooru…

She was just invisible.

A light knock at her door pulled her out of her thoughts. She hurriedly grabbed her phone to shut off the music, silently lamenting that she was forced to cut it off in the middle of one of her favorite songs. "Come in."

The door creaked slightly as her father stepped in, a soft smile on his face. "Still wide awake, I see," he commented.

Tooru rolled her eyes and shrugged. "Not for lack of trying," she replied absently, picking up a few items of clothing and depositing them in the hamper by her closet. "Just… stressed about tomorrow."

Kaito chuckled lightly as he nodded. "I can't say I blame you. It's kind of a big day for you." A groan emanated from the girl as she took a seat on the edge of her bed, causing the man to laugh again. She crossed her arms to signify her pout, exaggerating the movement slightly, then relaxed after a moment. "Well, talk to me. What's got you so stressed out?"

"Where do I even begin?" she mumbled, sliding to the side to give her father space to sit next to her, then leaning her head against his shoulder as he laid his arm around hers. "The biggest issue is that I have no idea what the test is gonna be." The nervousness started to well up inside of her again. "Lots of people think it's gonna be some kind of combat test so people can show off their quirks." _Which would make it hopeless for me, since I can't exactly show off…_

She felt her dad nodding slowly. "So you're concerned that you're quirk would be holding you back." It wasn't a question; he knew well what was going through the girl's mind. Tooru had confided in her father many times when she felt self-conscious about her quirk or was having confidence issues. He was one person she felt she could always lean on, and who would help lift her back up.

"I know my quirk isn't super flashy like Izuku's or Bakugou's, but I know I can be a good hero with it. I-" Her voice cracked, betraying the tears that were beginning to fall. "I j-just hope I'm g-good enough…"

Her father's other arm reached around as he pulled her into a tender embrace, one hand running through her hair gently as she hugged him back. "It's ok, sweetie," he murmured as she held back sobs. "I'm certain you'll do amazing tomorrow."

"H-how do you know?" Her voice was shaky, broken by sobs as she clung to her dad's shirt for support. "How d-do you know I'll h-have what it t-takes to get in?"

Kaito's hand gently prompted his daughter to look up at him, which she did. He was smiling softly, almost making eye contact. "Because I know _you_. I know how hard you've been training, both at the gym and with Izuku. And from the sound of it, you've made a lot of progress there. So I think you need to give yourself a bit more credit than you currently are." He gently kissed the top of her head before continuing. "Plus, you're incredibly smart. I'm certain that whatever it is they throw at you, you'll find a way to succeed in your own way."

Tooru couldn't help but smile at the praise and she squeezed her dad lightly. "Th-thanks, Dad," she whispered. "I...I needed that."

The man rubbed her shoulder, squeezing back. "Another thing about tomorrow." Tooru lifted her head, curious. "Regardless of what they have you do, you should...try and find a way to help some of the other kids."

His words took the girl by surprise. "What? Why would I-"

"You're trying to be a hero, right?" Kaito interrupted. "Don't heroes help people?" He let the question hang in the air for a few moments before adding, "I doubt the top hero school in the nation would turn down someone who acted like a true hero."

"I…" She knew her dad was right; regardless of the testing parameters, the judges would obviously be looking for heroic potential, not just strength. "I guess I never thought of that…"

Tooru's father chuckled lightly before slowly standing and stretching slightly. "Most people seem to forget what a hero's real purpose is," he responded, glancing at his watch. "But you need to get some sleep, young lady. I doubt you'll have much hero potential if you're nodding off during the exam."

She rolled her eyes, but giggled all the same as she hugged her dad one last time for the night. "Thanks again, Dad."

"Any time, sweetie. I love you."

"I love you, too." Father and daughter broke their embrace, the latter quickly climbing under her covers as Kaito headed towards the door.

Just as he was about to leave, he paused. "And Tooru?" She perked up. "Regardless of what happens tomorrow, I want you to know I'm proud of you."

Warmth spread through her being as she smiled back at her father, twisting back and forth slightly as a sign of happiness. "Thank you."

* * *

A cool breeze swept through the air as Nana made her way across the expansive UA courtyard, nerves alight with a mix of excitement and nervousness. It had been years since her last time setting foot on this campus, not counting the annual Sports Festivals, and now she was returning as a teacher. _I wish you could be here, Toshi. Training up the next generation of heroes…_

The directions she'd received took her past the main building towards the various training grounds within the campus. Normally these sections were reserved for various hero training exercises and were all but abandoned otherwise. Over the past month, however, the UA staff had been getting them prepared for today; the Hero Course Entrance Exam.

Nana's destination was the central building situated in between the testing sites, where many of the teachers would be observing the day's events. As she approached the towering structure, her eyes landed on a familiar figure heading in the same direction. "Yo, Yamada!"

The blonde hero turned as his name was called, a smile stretching across his features as he recognized her. "HEYYYYY! If it isn't the big lady herself!" He held out his hand for a fist bump, which the dark-haired woman reciprocated. "Shouta told me you'd be joining us, but I almost didn't believe him."

"Why? Because I'm too old to be a hero teacher?" she teased as Hizashi opened the building door for them both. "There are a lot of young heroes on staff here. Apparently Nedzu wanted someone with more field experience?"

"Right you are!" Nana jumped, barely holding back a surprised yelp as the principal's voice suddenly manifested. A moment later, the small white….thing….appeared from inside Hizashi's jacket. "Not to discredit the experience of other heroes, but you've been around longer than anyone else. Your insight could prove to be invaluable to the students."

The heroine smiled. "And I'm more than happy to help, Nedzu." The diminutive principal quickly transferred to Nana's shoulder, allowing the voice hero to head to the auditorium and ready his presentation. The two then made their way towards the elevators, aiming for the observation room on the top floor.

"So, tell me," Nedzu broke the silence as they waited for the doors to open, "is there anyone I should keep an eye out for today?"

Nana hesitated, waiting for them to be safely alone in the elevator before answering. "You're asking if I've found a successor, I assume?"

The animal smiled, clapping his paws together. "It's been quite some time since we last talked about this. As I recall, you were hesitant to consider it."

"Can you blame me?" She tried hard to keep her voice level. "After what had happened… I couldn't go through that again."

Nedzu was silent for a long moment, then sat down fully on the hero's shoulder. "No, I can't say that I blame you for your reluctance. But from what you've told me of your quirk, it doesn't seem like its a power you should just let die."

 _Especially since he's still out there…_

Nana took a shaking breath, steadying herself and forcing the memories from her mind. After another moment of silence she finally spoke. "But to answer your question, yes, I did find a successor. And yes, he is going to be taking the exam today."

"And I assume you've been giving him some personal training?" The black-haired hero nodded. "As you probably know, you won't be allowed to participate in his individual evaluation."

"I take it you're going to be keeping an eye on him in particular now, huh?"

A soft bell caught the pair's attention just before the doors of the elevator opened. After quickly making sure no one else was nearby, Nana muttered to the principal. "His name is Midoriya Izuku."

Nedzu nodded, obviously storing the name away in his exceptional memory. "I will most definitely be keeping an eye on him. But tell me, what made you choose him?"

"His heart," she quickly replied. There really was no question in her mind as to why she had chosen the green-haired boy. "He was quirkless, always told he could never be a hero. So you know what he decided to do?" A pause as they entered the observation room. Empty for now. "He decided to start cleaning Dagoba Municipal Beach. You know, the one that basically turned into a landfill?" The principal nodded in recognition. The fact that the beach had been cleaned never made headlines, but it had been shown on the news a few times. "If there is anyone who truly knows what it means to be a hero, it's him."

Silence fell between the two as Nedzu processed the information. "So this boy decided to become a hero in his own way, even though everyone around him was saying it'd be impossible. I can see why that would stand out to you, Nana. Especially considering the impact Toshinori's ideals have had on you."

The woman chuckled softly. "That would definitely explain why I like him so much. He's certainly impressed me. I just hope he can impress the other teachers."

Nedzu's smile returned. "Well, as the eighth wielder of One for All, I don't doubt he will be impressive to watch. There's a lot riding on his shoulders."

His words caused Nana to blanch slightly and she could feel a lump start forming in her throat. "Actually, sir…" _Might as well tell him. He knows just about everything else._ "Technically…he's the tenth."

* * *

"Dammit! Can't you two move any faster?"

"Calm your tits, Boomy Boy. We've got, like, an hour and we're only a block away."

Bakugou simply grumbled to himself, not slowing his pace.

"Kacchan's just nervous about the exam." Izuku scratched the back of his head idly.

"Like hell I'm nervous!" the blonde shouted back at them. "With my quirk, I've got this exam in the bag."

Tooru could feel her anxiety start to swell at his words. _He's right. Regardless of what the test is, his quirk is damn near perfect for hero work._

"Tooru?" Izuku's voice was full of concern. "Are you ok?"

"Define 'ok'?" she quickly replied, unconsciously tightening her grip on the strap of her gym bag. "I'm so nervous for this…"

Izuku smiled at her. "You and me both. Like, I know we've been training like crazy for this, and now we're putting all that to the test."

"That's not all, though. I'm at a total disadvantage compared to you and Bakugou…" She swallowed hard against the lump in her throat. "Your quirks are so powerful and versatile. I'm just invisible!" This time, she couldn't stop her voice from breaking.

Silence fell between the two for a long, awkward moment. "You know," Izuku started slowly, "i think you need to give yourself a lot more credit."

"Same thing my dad said to me last night…" Tooru mumbled, looking down. They had arrived at the entrance to UA's campus, but had yet to step through the main gate. Other student-hopefuls were starting to arrive as well.

"Think about it, Tooru. Lots of other people have quirks that aren't particularly useful for combat." He rested his hands on both of her shoulders. "Take Eraserhead, for example. He shuts down someone else's quirk, but then he'd still have to fight them hand to hand."

His words wormed their way through the anxiety that was clawing away at her. She knew he was right. She knew she was making the situation worse than it needed to be in her mind. "Guess I'll just have to do my best and hope for the best."

"I don't doubt that you'll make it in." Izuku pulled her into a gentle embrace, which she returned after a moment, closing her eyes and simply listening to his heartbeat. The steady rhythm helped to quiet her own racing heart.

 _It's ok, Tooru. You got this,_ she thought to herself, trying hard to dispel her anxiety. _You've been training hard and put a lot of work in. Just get in there and try your best._

 _You're a winner!_

A minute passed before the two separated, both smiling and blushing slightly. "Well, shall we?"

Tooru spun on her heel and started through the gate, tripping herself with her own ankle.

 _I'm a failure!_

She closed her eyes to no avail, unable to block out the sight of the ground which was…..not moving?

 _What in-_

"Oh, s-sorry!" a voice chirped to her side. "I kinda used my quirk on you. Release!"

Her weight returned and she stumbled slightly before regaining her footing. "N-no, you're fine. Thanks for stopping my fall there." Tooru turned to face her rescuer. She was a plain looking girl with brown hair and what appeared to be permanent blush marks on her cheeks.

"No problem," the girl replied, smiling brightly. "I figured it'd be bad luck to trip right before the exam. Anyways, I'll see you guys later. Good luck!"

Tooru smiled as the girl headed towards the testing facilities, then smiled brighter as she felt Izuku interlink his fingers with hers. "S-sorry for not catching you there."

She squeezed his hand lightly. "Don't worry about it. I can't have you saving my butt all the time." He chuckled at that as the two followed the brunette, hand in hand.

* * *

 **Originally this chapter was going to be a lot longer, since it would include the whole exam. The next chapter is in the works still, but I decided that ending here for now would work better.**

 **Anyways, sorry about the long wait. I should be posting the exam in the next few days.**

 **Thank you for reading. I hope you're enjoying the ride.**


	16. Trick Of The Light

Tooru knew she shouldn't be laughing during the presentation, she really did. Everyone else in the auditorium had their eyes focused on either Present Mic or the large projector screen behind him. In fact, she was certain she was missing out on vital information that could help her succeed at the upcoming test.

But the mumbling. It just never stopped. Even around All Might, he'd been able to keep his inner fanboy in check. "Holy crap, it's Present Mic, the Voice Hero. Even with his popular radio show, he's still considered an underground hero right along with Eraserhead. I used to listen to his show all the time when I was younger. I mean I still listen to it…"

Finally, the mutterings turned to a more relevant topic: The exam. Tooru looked back down at the handout all the applicants had received at the entrance of the auditorium. On it was printed a brief synopsis of the testing parameters, general requirements, rules of conduct, as well as images and point values for the 4 potential enemies they'd face.

 _Wait… Four?_

Her eyes locked onto the display behind the flamboyant hero. Sure enough, only three of the four villains portrayed on the hand out were shown. Just as she was about to raise a gloved hand to question the discrepancy, a loud voice rang out through the auditorium.

"Sir, if I may?" shouted a blue-haired boy with glasses, who looked entirely too old to have just graduated junior high. "There appears to be a mistake in this presentation. The handout we all received shows no fewer than four opponents present in this exam. If this is an error, it would be extremely unbecoming of UA, one of Japan's top academies, to allow this to slide." Tooru nodded in agreement, silently grateful that she didn't need to be the one to say anything.

But the blue-haired boy wasn't done, apparently. "And you, with the curly hair!" Tooru jolted in surprise, thinking the boy was pointing at her. After a moment, she realized she was not the intended target.

"Izuku!" she whispered harshly, elbowing the blind boy to break his trance of mutters. "He's talking to you."

His head snapped up, looking around for some voice just as the other kid continued. "Yes, you. You have been muttering throughout this whole presentation. If this is some kind of a game to you, I suggest you leave and not distract your fellow examinees further."

Izuku stuttered out an apology, seeming to curl in on himself. A part of Tooru's mind wanted to berate the boy's behavior, but she held herself at bay. _There'll be time for that later…_

She scanned back over the document in her hands, worry began to eat away at her mind. _There wouldn't be point values if there wasn't some kind of cut off. How many points do I need to pass?_

 _Will I even have time to help anyone?_

* * *

His nerves were on fire for the entire bus ride from the auditorium to the testing sites. It wasn't a terribly long distance, one most of them could have walked in about half an hour or so. _It seems UA wants us to be able to use all our energy and strength for this exam. They truly have thought of everything._

The nervous energy stemmed more from excitement than actual anxiety. Tenya felt more than confident at his potential to pass this exam. He'd had some help from his brother, the pro hero Ingenium, in training for the exam. Coupled with the fact that his speed meant he could cover a lot of territory, there was very little about this exam that truly worried him.

But that boy…

Tenya couldn't quite place what was so off putting about the green-haired boy who had muttered his way through the introduction. The same boy who was now seated just in front and across the aisle from him on the bus. From a distance, the kid seemed normal enough, if not a little plain. Now, however, it seemed like the boy wasn't wholly present, as if his thoughts were firmly planted somewhere else.

 _Did he really care so little about this exam? How could he be serious about becoming a hero with that kind of attitude?_

The bus rolled to a stop in front of what appeared to be a small, walled off city. As the examinees all collected themselves and filed off the vehicle, they watched as the massive gateway slowly opened, revealing the buildings and streets within. Tenya couldn't help but marvel slightly at the lengths UA went to in preparing this exam.

* * *

The sheer size of the mock city felt overwhelming. Even with his enhanced senses, and standing as close to the gat entrance as possible, Izuku could only hear echoes from what he believed to be a fraction of the space before him. It truly was awe-inspiring.

All around him he could hear the other hopefuls chattering away, talking about their quirks, possible strategies. Some even went as far as creating small teams of two or three to increase their chances of passing.

To his side, he noticed a familiar form standing still, hands together and fingers steepled, seemingly deep in thought.

 _Hey, that must be the nice girl who kept Tooru from falling earlier. I really need to thank her for that._

No sooner had he made it two steps towards her, then a hand caught his shoulder. "That girl seems to be mentally preparing herself for the exam," a familiar voice sounded from behind him. "Are you truly only here to be a distraction to the rest of us?"

 _Great. He just had to be in the same testing area._ Izuku steadied himself and turned towards the blue-haired boy. "Not at all. That girl actually helped stop my girlfriend from falling on her face earlier, and I was going to thank her."

The bespectacled teen bowed slightly. "If that truly is your intention, then I must apologize. But you must realize that much of your actions, the muttering in the auditorium and refusing to so much as look at someone you're speaking to, have been extremely rude."

Izuku let out a long suffering sigh, ready to explain himself. But just as he opened his mouth, an echoing voice boomed across the open field. "AND BEGIN!"

Thankfully, Nana's training had ingrained one key lesson in Izuku's mind: react, or get hit.

So he sprinted into the city.

* * *

Adrenaline pumped through Tooru's veins as she sprinted into the faux city, watching as the other hopefuls began to spread out through the various streets and alleyways in search of robots. She cut into what appeared to be a large parking structure, searching the area quickly for any sign of robots.

A scraping sound to her left caused her to nearly jump out of her skin. There, deeper in the garage, a two-pointer was scurrying towards the opening she'd just come through, its glowing eye taking no notice of her presence. _They must not have thermal imaging, then…_

Tooru steeled herself, then sprinted silently towards the scorpion-like machine. With a leap, she grabbed the robots tail, using it as a post to swing herself around before releasing and launching herself at the thing's neck. Her feet smashed into the metal plating, causing the joints to sheer enough to sever the wiring inside. The two-pointer's legs crumpled underneath it as it shut down, giving the invisible girl an impromptu ride back to the ground,

Upon a quick inspection, Tooru noted that the robot's joints did, in fact, seem to be the weakest points, with only a small level of protection to the wiring inside.

 _Well, I got two points,_ she thought to herself as she jogged to the other end of the structure. "Still got a long way to-"

Her words were cut off by a small explosion that was way too close for comfort, the heat and shockwave causing her to stagger. Whipping her head to the side, it was immediately evident what had caused the blast. Staring down the alleyway adjacent to the parking garage, the smoking wreckage of a three-pointer was glued to the wall by what appeared to be several purple glue balls. More of the balls seemed to be scattered through the joints and over one of the rocket pods. "Must have blown itself up trying to escape."

Turning the corner at the end of the block, she found herself behind yet another three-pointer, this one fully functional. From her brief inspection of the ruined one on the wall, she knew the power control had to be…

 _Here!_ Tooru ruptured the thin metal plating with a powerful push kick, hearing the motor of the machine die out as the kick triggered the control. "I mean, it's not destroyed… but I hope that counts…?"

" _ALRIGHTY, LISTENERS! TWENTY FIVE MINUTES LEFT ON THE CLOCK!"_

 _Five points in five minutes?_ Tooru lamented, sprinting down an alleyway where she could hear some scuttling. _I better hope I run into more of these hunks of metal soon._

A scream echoed down an adjacent alley, causing her to pause briefly before she took off after the noise. As she rounded around a dumpster, she skidded to a halt. A pair of two-pointers were closing in on a small boy with...purple balls on his head? _Must have been the one who took out that three-pointer back there._ He was obviously dazed; it looked like one of the metal scorpions had thrown him into the wall.

Frantic, Tooru grabbed a fist-sized piece of rubble from the wall the robots had apparently broken through and threw it as hard as she could at the nearest robot. The rock lodged itself in between the machine's neck joints, causing both of the two-pointers to turn in her direction.

Only she wasn't there. Using the same technique that had worked so well with the two-pointer in the garage, the invisible girl gripped the faux villain's tail and used her momentum to swing her feet into its neck, aiming for the rubble. The impact forced the piece of concrete through the metal plating, sheering joints and tearing wires.

"W-what the hell?" the ball-haired boy yelled, obviously confused as to what was going on as he could not see the other attacker. A few seconds later, and both robots lay motionless on the ground, the light in their mechanical eyes shut off.

"Hey," Tooru called out, picking up a rock and waiving it so he could see where she was. "You alright there?"

"Y-yeah, I-I-I think so." The boy picked himself up, brushing off his clothing. "Thanks for the help there."

Tooru smiled to herself, knowing he couldn't see it. "Happy to help. Stay safe out there, ok?" Not waiting for a reply, she took off down the alley.

* * *

" _SIXTEEN MINUTES LEFT ON THE CLOCK, LISTENERS!_ _"_

With One for All flowing through him at 14%, Izuku sped down the street of the city, skipping from wall to wall. The speed boost from the quirk had been his saving grace so far, giving his limbs enough power and durability to tear through the robotic villains' metal frames with little difficulty.

The only real issue he ran into was the metal itself. The edges of the plates would cut and tear at his skin and clothing as he punched and kicked the robots to pieces. Nana's healing quirk quickly took care of the smaller scrapes, but some of the larger cuts were still closing.

Izuku kicked off of the wall, rocketing through the air and into the face of a three-pointer that seemed to be chasing another one of the examinees. He twisted as he flew, bringing one foot spinning around so that the heel slammed into the faux villain's head, causing the neck to rotate violently and sheer through the connections.

Unfortunately the kick's impact halted the green-haired boy's rotation so that instead of rolling gracefully to break his momentum, he skidded painfully on his back and side, coming to a hard stop against a fence.

"That's...nineteen..." Izuku groaned from where he lay after catching his breath. Nothing felt broken, thanks One for All, but he definitely had a bad case of road rash and a mostly destroyed tracksuit.

"Woah, you ok there, man?" the other examinee jogged up to where he had crashed, offering him a helping hand.

"Yeah, just probably scraped up," he said, accepting the help and climbing to his feet with a wince. "Definitely need to work on that landing a bit."

"I'll say. That was a pretty awesome kick, though. I'll bet you have some kind of speed quirk, judging how fast you were going."

At this point, Izuku finally took a moment to take in who he was talking to, and quickly felt himself blushing. She had a remarkably toned figure with well pronounce...assets. Though the only thing that seemed overly unique about her were the two, small, curled horns poking out through her hair.

"S-something like that, yeah," he managed to stammer out, trying his best to look her in the eye. "It's more of an overall enhancer."

The girl's grin resonated in her voice. "That's pretty awesome! You'll have to tell me more about it after we pass this thing, yeah?"

"Y-yeah, sounds good!" Izuku smiled back, then fist bumped the girl before bidding farewell and good luck.

* * *

Aizawa Shouta sat in the observation room, eyes locked on the screens that were monitoring testing site delta, trying to sort out his current source of confusion. At first he'd thought it was a trick of the light or a bad camera angle. But then it happened again. And again.

He watched for the fifth time as an examinee who seemed trapped or cornered was saved by a flying piece of debris. It wasn't a random projectile, sent flying by a distant explosion or by a robot breaking through a wall. Each time, the rubble had either destroyed the faux villain's vision sensor or imbedded itself in a joint.

"Kayama, can you rewind screen 5 by seven seconds?"

"Do it yourself, Shouta," the heroine in question complained, tossing the remote at him.

Catching it, he rewound the playback to a few seconds before the rubble was thrown. _Now, how do I switch to- there it is._ Pressing another button on the remote, he watched as the image shifted spectrums, portraying what the drone's thermal imaging picked up. Once the monitor had adjusted, he pressed play.

The examinee backed up as the villain advanced. Then a third human-shaped heat source came into view, leaned down, then moved as if to throw something.

A tired sigh escaped the man's lips as he pulled himself upright. _It's gonna be a pain going through the footage and adding up this person's points…_ "Hey, do you remember seeing anything about an examinee with an invisibility quirk?"

Hizashi shifted slightly in his seat. "Why does that ring a bell…" he muttered.

"You probably noticed them during your presentation, then forgot about it," Sekijiro Kan, also known as the blood hero Vlad King, huffed from the side. "Why, Shouta?"

The black haired man played the clip twice more for the other teachers, once with the regular camera, then with the thermal.

Kayama giggled lightly, before turning back to her own screens. "Well that's gonna be a pain, adding up all their points. They're gonna have to keep switching the imaging types back and forth."

Shouta simply rolled his eyes, reaching for the stack of files for the testing site in question. Up until now, he hadn't bothered to read through them, knowing the school would only be accepting a small fraction of the examinees. With the discovery of an invisibility quirk, however, his interest had been piqued.

"Here we are," he muttered to himself.

 **Hagakure Tooru. Quirk: Invisibility. Her entire body is invisible, due to a cellular interaction that causes the light to refract around her. Blood and other tissues are also invisible until the cells dry up and die.**

"You found 'em?" Kan called.

"Seems like it. And if she passes," Shouta turned towards the other Hero Course teacher, "she's coming to my class."

The larger hero shrugged. "Suits me. Your style would probably be more beneficial to someone like her anyway."

Shouta did his best to hide his smile in his capture scarf. He would never admit it, but a part of him truly hoped this girl passed.

* * *

"Release!"

Ochako could feel the churning in her stomach begin to fade as the group of robots she had been floating dropped from the sky, landing in heaps of twisted metal and wires.

"That should...be about thirty...give or take."

" _WE'VE ONLY GOT FOUR MINUTES LEFT ON THE CLOCK! WE'RE GETTING TO THE END OF OUR SETLIST!_ _"_

One of the buildings near where she was standing exploded as a hulking robotic form burst its way onto the street. Ochako instantly recognized it as the zero-pointer that Present Mic had described in the introduction.

" _This guy is kind of like a Thwomp, from the old Mario Bros. games. Basically, he's more of an obstacle to avoid than someone you should fight."_

With only a moment of hesitation, the brunette turned to flee down the street, away from the monstrosity that had just made itself known. That moment proved to be fatal. A chunk of the building that had been displaced by the robot bounced behind her, landing on her back foot as she stepped forward.

She cried out in pain as she felt her bones give way, her balance failing her as she landed face first on the asphalt. In an attempt to free herself, Ochako twisted her body, reaching as far as she could toward the block of concrete and rebar. But the motion caused a searing pain to lance up her leg, pulling a whimper from her.

"Help!" She could feel the tears welling in her eyes, hope draining from her as she watched the other examinees fleeing. _I got so far...only to fail now…_ "S-someone?"

Ochako gritted her teeth and clenched her fists as the rumbling from the zero-pointer caused the rubble to shift atop her broken ankle. As the machine grew closer, she could hear footsteps coming...towards her?

"Hey, c-can you move at all?" She looked up to see the green-haired boy who had been scolded in the introduction. A nearby crash caused another shift in the debris, making her whimper as she shook her head. "Damn… Ok, I-I'll see what I can do…"

The boy jogged around to the debris, seemed to examine it for a moment, then bent his knees and _lifted_. After years of practicing her quirk, Ochako felt fairly confident in her ability to guess an object's mass, and she estimated the slab pinning her leg at just shy of 600 kilograms. Yet she watched as this boy hefted the mass free with only a little noticeable effort. When he turned more fully, she could see the toned muscles of his back through the tear in his tracksuit. _That definitely explains the strength._

"If you can, you should try to move to safety." The boy turned to smile at her, yet didn't look directly at her. "I'll see what I can do to hold this guy off."

Ochako was about to protest, but he simply _vanished_ , jumping away at high speeds in a flash of green electricity. She watched in amazement as the boy seemed to pin-ball between the buildings and the zero-pointer, striking at joints with each impact.

Pulling herself from her stupor, the brunette quickly touched her shoe to negate its gravity, relieving some of the pressure on her injury. As she began to drag herself forward, she spotted a large metal plate left over from one destroyed villains. _If I can make it to that, then I can-_

" _AND THAT'S THE END OF OUR SHOW, LISTENERS!_ _"_ Present Mic's voice echoed through the model city. The giant area trap halted in its tracks, and Ochako watched as the green-haired boy slid his way down one of its arms. _"_ _IF ANY OF YOU ARE INJURED, PLEASE STAND BY SO OUR MEDICAL TEAM CAN FIX YOU RIGHT UP!_ _"_

The boy jogged up to her with a grin, still not quite looking at her. _Is he… no, he can't be. His eyes look too normal. Plus, it seems like he can see everyth-_

"Mind if I sit with you?" He took a seat near her, not waiting for an answer. "I probably should get some medical attention, too. Don't want my cuts to get infected or anything."

"Right you are, dear." The two teens jumped, just now noticing the elderly woman making her way towards them. "I wasn't expecting to hear something so sensible from the boy who attacked the zero-pointer head on."

A sheepish grin crossed the boy's face for a moment before his jaw dropped. "Holy- You're Recovery Girl, the Youthful Heroine. Ohhhh man I am such a huge fan! Dammit why don't I have my notebook on me when i need it most."

Ochako couldn't help but giggle as the boy mumbled briefly, causing the elderly hero to smile. "Alrighty, calm down," she scolded lightly. "Let's get a look at you."

Slowly, the green haired boy turned to present his back to the woman, who clicked her tongue. "Interesting… these cuts here look like they've already started healing pretty well. Let's help that process along a bit." The elderly lady leaned forward and planted a kiss on the boys shoulder and a soft green glow enveloped the wounds. She watched in awe as the skin seemed to knit itself back together right before her eyes, the cuts closing without even the faintest of scars.

"Hold out your hand for me?" The boy obeyed, and the heroine dropped a small handful of gummies into his palm. "Eat up. My quirk uses your own energy for the healing, so you'll need to recover some."

A grimace crossed the brunette's face at the declaration. She felt exhausted already, so the hopes of having her ankle fully healed seemed all but impossible.

Recovery Girl padded over to her side, inspecting Ochako's damaged limb. "From the looks of things, I think you were pretty lucky," she stated. "That slab could have broken every bone in your foot, but that doesn't look like the case since only your ankle is swollen. Here." Just as she did with the boy, the elderly hero leaned forward and kissed Ochako on the forehead. Almost immediately she felt the pain in her foot fade to a dull throb. But wow did she feel tired…

The gummies were in her mouth before she ever registered receiving them from the heroine, and she could already feel some of her stamina returning. "Now, I was able to heal the more serious break in there. There's some bruising on your tibia and some torn muscles, so you'll need to take it easy for a while." As she spoke, Recovery Girl pulled a roll of medical wrap from her bag and quickly used it to secure Ochako's ankle, limiting its mobility and applying light pressure to the damaged area.

"Th-thank you, Recovery Girl," the brunette said with a smile, a gratitude which the green-haired boy echoed immediately after. The heroine simply waved before heading off to tend to other examinees.

* * *

"Here, let me help." The brunette looked up at Izuku and smiled, taking his offered hand and letting him pull her to her feet. She leaned against a piece of one of the robots before setting her wrapped foot down experimentally. The hiss of pain was all Izuku needed to make up his mind. "D-do you want to lean on me? I can help you walk out."

"Uh, s-sure. T-that'd be helpful." The girl hopped over to him, laying her arm across his shoulders while he did the same, his hand resting high on her side.

 _Stay calm. This is just like the time you had to do this for Tooru during training. Aside from the fact that she's basically a total stranger, there's no difference._

"M-my name's Uraraka, by the way. Uraraka Ochako."

Izuku smiled, turning his head slightly. "Nice to meet you. I'm Midoriya Izuku."

The brunette smiled back at him as the two slowly made their way towards the bus. "Thank you again for helping me out back there. You probably could have gotten a lot more points if it weren't for that…"

A light chuckle escaped his lips. "I-I just did what I felt was the right thing to do. Plus, it didn't look like anyone else was around, so I couldn't just leave." A pause. "Also, I wanted to thank you for earlier… You used your quirk to keep my girlfriend from face planting at the entrance."

Ochako giggled. "Hey, like you said. It seemed like the right thing to do at the time."

Silence fell between the two the rest of the way onto the bus. Izuku opted to give the girl an impromptu piggy back ride down the narrow aisle to an empty seat. After awkwardly setting her down as best as he could, he decided to sit next to her. _She seems nice enough. Besides, I definitely need more experience talking to new people…_

The bus jerked into gear, pulling a slow u-turn before heading back down the road towards the main building of campus. After a few minutes, Ochako finally broke the silence. "Ok, so… I'm kinda curious… God, this is awkward… but… I noticed back there, you never really looked at anyone… I don't mean to be nosy or anything, but are you…blind?"

Izuku sighed. He figured this question would come up sooner or later, but he was surprised that no one else aside from the intimidating boy with glasses had said anything about it. "Yeah… yeah I am…"

* * *

Tooru scanned the crowd as the bus from site Beta arrived. She'd assumed everyone would arrive back at the main building around the same time, but apparently his bus had been held up for some reason.

"Calm down, Invisalign," Katsuki grumbled at her side. "Nerd's probably geeking out about some hero or shit."

The girl let out a heavy sigh before returning to her tiptoes to search. After a minute or so, the blonde boy said something about his mom wanting him home as soon as possible and left. Moments later, Tooru noticed a familiar mop of green hair making its way through the slowly dispersing crowd. "Izuku! Over here!"

"Tooru?" the reply came. "Just a second!" She heard him mutter something, but couldn't make it out over the sound of the other examinees. A few seconds later, Izuku emerged from the crowd carrying someone on his back.

"Who is- hey! You're that girl, the one who kept me from falling!" Tooru bounced up and down excitedly. "I never got to thank you properly for that."

The brunette blushed slightly. "I just did what felt like the right thing to do." She removed one of her arms from her hold on Izuku, extending it for a handshake. "Uraraka Ochako."

"Hagakure Tooru," the invisible girl replied, shaking the offered hand. "What happened to your ankle?"

"I, uh, kinda got caught under some rubble. Midoriya here helped me out of it."

Tooru nodded, not surprised at her boyfriend's willingness to rush to someone's aid. "Definitely sounds like something he would do."

"I don't mean to be rude," Izuku interrupted, "but it is kinda getting late. We should get you home, Uraraka."

"Does your family live nearby?" Tooru asked.

Uraraka shook her head. "No, they live a ways away. I'm just in an apartment complex a few blocks away while I'm here for school. It's over by Musutafu station."

The invisible girl grinned. "That's right by where we live!" An idea crossed her mind. _If she's living alone…_ "How about you join us at his place for dinner."

Izuku's eyes widened at his girlfriend's invitation. The brunette sported a similar look. "A-are you sure. I-I really don't want to intrude, especially since I just barely met you two…"

Tooru waved off the girl's worry. "Don't worry about it. Izu's mom is super sweet. I'm sure she'd love to have you. Right, Izuku?"

The green-haired boy nodded after a moment. "You may want to call her to confirm, but I doubt she'll mind having another guest." He smiled, turning his head as much towards the brunette as he could. "We're having katsudon."

A small giggle escaped Tooru's lips at her boyfriends excitement as she pulled out her phone and scrolled through contacts. She held the phone to her ear as she waited for an answer, grinning at Izuku and their new mutual friend.

* * *

 **Well, I think this chapter explains itself, more or less.**

 **Probably the most ambiguous point here would be the nature of One for All. Without going into too much detail, I can say it will be fairly similar to cannon, with a couple of tweaks. Obviously here he's had a lot more time to master it (about two years, to be exact), but because of the tweaks I'm making to it, it feels like 14% would be a more appropriate level for him to be able to use at this point.**

 **Please let me know if there was anything here that didn't make sense or that you felt should be changed. Constructive criticism is always welcomed.**

 **I hope you all are continuing to enjoy the story. Next time, Dinner with the Midoryas pt. 2 and exam results.**


	17. See Through My Eyes

To say that Ochako was feeling a little awkward with her current situation would be a massive understatement. Here she was, being carried on the back of a boy she'd just met barely an hour ago, while said boy's _girlfriend_ was currently calling his mom to confirm that she would be joining them for dinner. Needless to say, it was not a situation she'd imagined finding herself in when she woke up this morning.

"I can't believe she's ok with him carryin' me like this," the brunette mumbled to herself.

Izuku chuckled lightly, causing her to flush as she realized she'd spoken out loud. "If she had a problem with it, she'd have said something by now," he replied. "Tooru's pretty straightforward like that."

Ochako nodded absently, worrying at her lip slightly. "And your mom? You sure she'll be ok with me showin' up unexpectedly?"

"She said it wouldn't be a problem," the invisible girl piped up, pocketing her phone. "To use her words, she's 'happy her son is being a proper gentleman'?"

The boy flushed red, a sheepish grin spreading across his face. "I-it's not like I could just leave her to walk on her own, with how messed up her ankle got…"

A gloved hand waved dismissively as Tooru giggled lightly. "Of course not. Helping people is practically a hobby for you at this point."

Ochako could barely stifle her laughter in her arm as the green-haired boy's blush grew brighter. "Well, it's a hobby I'm sure grateful for right now. I...don't exactly have money for a cab, so I would have needed to either stay at the school infirmary or walk home by myself." Now it was her turn to smile sheepishly. "Besides, I'm real glad I was able to make some new friends today."

Tooru bounced happily while the green-haired boy turned a smile towards her. "So are we."

* * *

"We're home!" Izuku called down the narrow hallway as the three teens made their way into the Midoriya apartment.

A squeal emanated from around the corner. "My babies are home!" Ochako and Tooru both stifled giggles as they all removed their shoes, the former being especially careful not to further agitate her injury. Using the invisible girl's shoulder for support, the brunette hopped after Izuku. "You'll have to tell me all about how the exam went!"

The girls rounded the corner just as Izuku released his mom from a hug. "Uh, Mom? This is Uraraka, the girl Tooru called you about."

Ms. Midoriya gave the brunette a bright smile before pulling her into an embrace, causing her to stumble on her one good foot. "Oh dear! I'm so sorry," the green-haired woman apologized, quickly releasing the girl. "Tooru mentioned you were injured. Izuku, dear, will you make her an ice pack while Tooru helps her over to the couch?"

Ochako was about to protest that she would be fine, but the invisible girl quickly pulled her into the living room. "I probably should have warned you," Tooru started, helping the injured girl get situated on the couch, "Mama Inko doesn't take 'no' for an answer."

"Especially not when it comes to treating an injury!" Inko called from the kitchen.

The brunette girl sighed and allowed herself to relax against the couch cushions, lifting her leg to rest it on the small ottoman which almost seemed to be moving towards her of its own accord. _If it weren't for Hagakure's floating clothes, I'd have thought this house was haunted._ Once certain the injured limb was properly situated, the invisible girl plopped herself down next to her new friend. "I think...I could get used to this," Ochako hummed, closing her eyes.

"You probably will." Izuku's voice made his presence known as he made his way into the living room, a washcloth and impromptu ice pack in hand. "Now that she's met you, Mom will likely be asking about you non-stop."

The boy gently laid the washcloth over her ankle, making sure to situate the ice where most of the swelling was. Ochako watched the process in amazement. _I never woulda guessed this guy was blind._ "Th-thank you."

Just as Izuku was about to sit down by his girlfriend, Inko's voice sounded from the kitchen again. "Izuku, could you come grab our nice blue trays from the lower cabinet? I think we'll eat in the living room tonight."

As the boy walked back into the kitchen, Ochako turned to Tooru in confusion. "But… Can he, I dunno, _feel_ colors or something?"

The other teen giggled. "Nope."

As if on cue… "No, not the _red_ ones! Those are old and ugly!"

"Well, _Mom_ , they all look just about the same to me!"

* * *

"...so I was pretty good and stuck there. Until Midoriya here came along, that is. Heaved that block right off me."

Tooru couldn't help but feel a swelling of pride in her chest for her boyfriend as Ochako recounted how he had rescued her. Inko seemed to be having a similar reaction, if her watery eyes and broad smile were anything to go by. "Ohhh, my boy is already being a hero!"

As silence fell across the room, a thought came to Tooru's mind. "The only thing I don't get is how you were able to walk out of that with basically just a sprained ankle and stress fracture. That thing must have weighed a _ton!_ "

"Recovery Girl was there!" This time Izuku answered, as Ochako had just taken a bite of her katusdon. "Apparently she's the head nurse at UA. She came down to where we were at and used her quirk to heal us. Uraraka didn't have a whole lot of energy left, so she could only heal her part way." The girl in question nodded in confirmation.

Inko's eyes widened. "She had to heal you, too? What happened? You weren't badly hurt, were you?"

Izuku shook his head, swallowing the last of his dinner before answering. "No, it wasn't serious. Just a few cuts from a bad landing." He chuckled before adding, "I just hope it looked as cool as I thought it did."

Tooru's laughter caused her to choke on a bit of food and she started coughing violently. Ochako was grinning, but managed to keep most of her laughter to herself as she thumped the choking girl on the back. Inko merely let out a long-suffering sigh and shook her head, a serious look on her face. "At least your quirk makes you more durable. You shouldn't go and act so recklessly. It sounds like that giant robot could have seriously hurt you."

"But it didn't," the invisible girl stated, trying to keep the mood light. "That's the real important part, right?"

The older woman smiled. "You're right. I really should be more positive about all this." She stretched slightly before standing, carrying her tray towards the kitchen. "It sounds like all three of you did pretty well during the exam."

Ochako's smile faltered a little. "They never told us what the minimum score requirement was, so we won't really know our results 'til the letters get here."

Tooru bounced in her seat, finishing the last of her food as well. "They said that could take a week, though! This is gonna be so nerve wracking!"

"I think you'll survive somehow," Izuku teased, standing and picking up both of the girls' trays before carrying them to the kitchen and depositing them in the sink.

The invisible girl pouted at her boyfriend, sticking her tongue out at him as he re-entered the living room. Then he paused in the doorway and cocked his head. "Uh, Tooru? Is that your phone?"

"Huh?" Sure enough, as she strained her ears, a faint ringing could be heard from the entryway. "Crap! That's probably dad!" She jumped up from her seat and rushed towards the noise, narrowly avoiding a collision with Inko as the woman exited the kitchen.

Her phone had stopped ringing as she fished it out of her bag. Cursing quietly, she quickly unlocked the device, seeing that it had in fact been her father calling her. Just as she was about to hit 'redial,' the phone began ringing again.

"Hey, Dad!"

" _Hey, sweetie,"_ Kaito's voice resonated through the phone. " _How'd everything go today?"_

"It went great! Definitely a lot better than I thought it would."

Her dad chuckled, causing her smile to brighten. " _I told you you need to give yourself more credit. What all did you have to do?"_

Tooru gave her father a brief rundown of the exam, being sure to leave out some of her close calls so as not to worry him.

" _So do you feel like you passed?"_

The question hung in the girl's mind for a long moment. "I-I'm not sure…" she finally answered. "We weren't given a minimum point requirement or anything. I know I did the best that I could. I just have to hope that's enough…"

A brief silence fell in the hallway, with Inko questioning the other two teens about dessert. " _You know, Tooru,"_ Kaito said, pulling his daughter's attention back. " _I can't tell you how_ proud _I am of you. I know for a fact I wouldn't have ever_ considered _doing something like that when I was your age. Hell, even now it sounds scary."_

Tooru couldn't help but giggle at the confession, feeling tears prick at her eyes. "Thank you, Dad. I'm glad I could make you proud."

A second voice echoed through the phone, obviously calling for her father's attention. " _Ok, ok. I'll be there shortly. Um, sweetie?"_ Tooru's smile faded a little, already having a good idea what her dad was about to say. " _I'm really sorry, but I'm going to be working overnight tonight. We got a rush order from a hero agency who apparently thinks Misriah Support is a reliable company or something._ "

"It's fine, Dad," the girl replied, giggling slightly at her father's quip. "I completely understand."

Kaito released a sigh. " _Thank you. Maybe you can check with Inko and see if you can stay the night there? She said she'd usually be fine with that."_

"Sure thing. I'm at their apartment right now, so I'll ask in a bit. I love you, Dad."

" _I love you, too. I'll see you tomorrow."_

* * *

Returning her phone to her bag, Tooru padded her way back into the main area of the apartment. Just as she rounded the corner, Inko caught sight of her from the kitchen. "Ah, Tooru, dear. Would you like some mochi for dessert?"

"Uh, sure. That sounds delicious."

The older woman reached for a fresh plate, transferring a handful of the small confections. "Everything alright with your dad?"

Tooru smiled softly, accepting the plate. "Yeah, he's fine. They got a rush order at work, so he won't be home tonight." She hesitated, not wanting to impose on the mother's hospitality. "Could I… Would you mind if I stayed the night?

Inko's concerned expression melted into a warm smile. "Of course, dear! We got that extra futon for a reason."

Relief flooded through the girl, and she pulled the older woman into a brief, one-armed hug. "Thanks, Mama Inko!"

The two made their way back into the living room where Izuku and Ochako were eating their desserts in silence, a contented expression on both of their faces. "Besides, I was going to suggest that Ms. Uraraka here spend the night as well."

The girl in question almost choked on her mochi as Tooru's eyes widened slightly. Izuku's head whipped up, his attention going first to his mother, then shifting to his girlfriend. "Wh-what?" Ochako coughed. "I-I'm practically a stranger! I couldn't possibly-"

She was cut off as Inko waved her hand dismissively. "Nonsense, dearie. Any friend of Izuku's is more than welcome here. Plus, it'd put my mind at ease knowing that ankle was well taken care of, at least for tonight."

After another minute of flustered stammering, Ochako finally relented. Inko suggested that Izuku take the couch for the night and that the girls take his room. As the boy took his leave to go and tidy up the bedroom, Tooru turned to the brunette. "I'm pretty sure I have an extra set of pajamas at my apartment that you can wear. I'll run and grab them real quick."

* * *

"Dang, girl!" Tooru whistled as she exited the bathroom, just finishing her pre-bed routine. "I had a feeling those pajamas would fit you well, but not _that_ well."

Ochako giggled, her smile accentuating her blush marks. "Speak for yourself! Izuku's a lucky guy, havin' a girlfriend with a figure like yours." She paused for a moment before adding, "besides, you never hafta worry about a color looking good on you or not. I bet that makes shoppin' a breeze."

Tooru's smile faltered briefly as she seated herself onto the futon. "Yeah, it sure does simplify a few things. But it makes it hard to relate to people about fashion outside of clothes, you know? It's not like I can really wear makeup, and jewelry doesn't really do anything for me, aside from showing where my hands are. And don't even get me started about hair!"

The brunette giggled again. "I was meanin' to ask you about that. What do you do for stylin'?"

"Nothing, really," she replied with a shrug. "Long hair just gets annoying when you can't see it, so I prefer keeping it short."

"Do you have someone who cuts it special for ya?"

"My dad, actually." Tooru pulled back the covers, sliding herself under them and making herself comfortable. "He's been cutting it for me since I was little. But what _I_ want to know is how you keep your hair like that!" She gestured towards the brunette's floating bob cut. "That stuff seems like it defies gravity!"

Ochako giggled, shaking her head a little to cause hair to bounce from side to side. "I'm pretty sure it's 'cause of my quirk," she said. "Ever since I can remember it's behaved like this."

Tooru nodded in understanding, laying back and staring at the ceiling, hands under her head. Just as she felt herself finally begin to relax, Ochako leaned up on her arm, looking down over the edge of the bed at the other girl. "So, I gotta ask: how'd you meet Midoriya in the first place?"

A smile crossed Tooru's face as she rolled onto her side to face the brunette. "It's kinda funny, actually. We ran into each other one day after school. Literally. Bonked heads and everything." She stifled a giggle at the memory. "Then he realized he'd left his phone at the park and I offered to help him find it."

"I bet you were jus' smitten at how cute he was," Ochako teased, breaking into laughter and shielding her face as the other girl swung a pillow at her. "But seriously," she continued as her laugher faded. "'The blind boy who can see the invisible girl'! It's like y'all were meant to be together…"

Tooru felt her face flush slightly at her words, unsure of how to respond. After a moment, she decided to try and turn the conversation away from her. "But what about you? Is there a special someone you've got your eye on?"

The girls continued to chat well into the night, laughing together and teasing each other. Through it all, however, Tooru couldn't quite suppress the quiet fear building inside her.

" _It's like y'all were meant to be together…"_

 _I know_ I _feel that way, but…_

 _Does he?_

* * *

Echoes of birdsong accompanied Shouta as he stepped into the main building of UA. He was nearly an hour early for his meeting with Sekijiro, but that suited him just fine. Meetings like this one could very well drag on longer than necessary, so he wanted to make sure he was fully prepared in order to speed the process along.

Today they would be finalizing which of the qualified examinees would make it into UA's Heroics Course, as well as which class they would be a part of. The two homeroom teachers would compile a list of the candidates they felt would be the best fit for the course, noting which nominees they would like to have in their class. Usually, there was very little overlap in the second part of the process; Shouta and Sekijirou had very different styles and as such sought different attributes in the students they wished to teach.

Shouta eventually made his way to the teachers' offices, pushing his way through the towering door. "Morning, Nemuri."

The black-haired heroine looked up from her laptop. "Shouta? You're here mighty early. Were you missing me that much already?"

"No." He took his seat and flipped open his own computer, waiting for the startup process.

Nemuri pouted briefly before turning back to her fellow teacher. "Oh, that reminds me. Did you hear there was a blind kid who actually _passed_ the entrance exam?" Shouta cocked an eyebrow, trying to decide whether or not his associate was trying to pull his leg. "Apparently he has some kind of all-round enhancement quirk."

"Do you know his name?"

She pondered for a moment, chewing her lower lip slightly. "No, I don't think I ever heard it… I know he had green hair and was kinda short, but that's about it. Sorry."

Turning back to his desk, Shouta quickly pulled up the folder that contained all 43 the passing Heroics Course candidates. Seven of them would have to be turned down, but that was a matter that could be decided at the later meeting. Right now, he had two matters of business to take care of.

To his quiet relief, he found that the invisible girl, Hagakure Tooru, had indeed passed the exam. She had tied for third place, with 24 villain points and 50 rescue points. The pro hero made a note on his legal pad to put her at the top of his request list.

Next came the mystery that Nemuri had presented: the supposedly blind candidate. Shouta figured he would be able to find this one by simply going through each of the other nominees.

Halfway through the list, he finally found what the R-rated hero had described. He watched the clip of the green-haired boy rocketing out of an alleyway and crushing the head of a three-pointer, assisting another one of the examinees in the process. A second clip showed the same boy attacking the massive zero-pointer, giving an injured girl time to move to safety.

"You sure this kid is blind, Nemuri?" He asked, not turning around. "He sure as hell doesn't act like it."

"Recovery Girl seemed to believe so. Said she noticed it when tending his injuries after the exam."

Shouta watched both clips of the boy a second and third time, then added his name to the list. _Blind or not, I have to admit this Midoriya boy shows potential…_

* * *

"Izuku!"

The green-haired boy leapt from his seat on the couch and rushed for the door, clipping his knee on a chair in the dining room. Limping and muttering, he rounded the corner into the entryway, coming face to face with a bouncing, grinning Tooru. The two had decided in the beginning of the week that they would open their UA results together, and judging by the envelope she was waving around…

"IT CAME! IT CAME TODAY!" She skipped towards him excitedly, grabbing his wrist and tugging him towards the door. "C'mon, we gotta go get yours from the mailboxes!"

Izuku barely had time to grab the keys off the wall and shout a hasty "MomI'mcheckingthemailbebacksoon!" before being pulled out the door by his overly excited girlfriend. The couple raced down the flights of stairs, nearly tripping over each other in their haste.

Panting lightly, the two finally reached the mailboxes imbedded in the wall on the bottom floor. Once he'd caught his breath, Izuku counted the appropriate number of boxes from the right and top; two left, three down. His hands shook as he slid the key home and turned, pulling the small metal door open to reveal a single envelope inside.

"Th-this is it, right?" He held the envelope up for Tooru to inspect.

She nodded enthusiastically before grabbing his other hand and dragging him back up the stairs to the apartment. "WE GOTTA OPEN THEM! C'MOOOON!"

Less than a minute later, they burst back into the Midoriya apartment, hastily removing their shoes and leaving them haphazardly on the mat.

"That has to have been the fastest mail run of your whole life," Inko said from living room, her smile resonating in her voice.

Izuku laughed in reply. "Can you blame us? It's been a long week, waiting for these." He poked his head around the corner to smile at his mom. "Tooru and I are gonna open these in our room. We'll come help with dinner after."

The older woman waved him towards his room, returning the smile. "Well, don't keep your girlfriend waiting, young man. Oh, and Tooru?"

"Yes?" the girl called, rounding the corner.

"Your dad is still planning to join us, right?"

Tooru bounced in affirmation. "Yup! He's getting off work early tonight, so he should be here about the same time as the Bakugous."

"Glad to hear it. Now go on. Go see how well you two did on the exam."

The couple laughed and dashed into Izuku's room, shutting the door behind them. Tooru wasted no time in taking her usual seat on the edge of his bed, pulling her phone from her pocket as she felt it vibrate. "Hey!" she exclaimed as Izuku joined her. "Uraraka got in! She said she'll tell us more at dinner tonight."

Izuku smiled broadly in reply. "That's awesome! Means her moving all the way out her wasn't for nothing."

Tooru giggled and dropped her phone beside her on the bed. "Alright. You go first!"

He carefully tore open one side of the envelope, which upon closer inspection, seemed much thicker than his girlfriends. The reasoning for this became clear as he pulled out the papers which were folded inside. "They...they typed it in braille for me…"

As Izuku unfolded the letter, a small metal disk landed in his lap, its internal mechanisms whirring to life.

"Holy- It's All Might!" Tooru exclaimed.

A look of confusion crossed the boys face, just as sound began to emanate from the disk. " _Hello there, young Midoriya. I'm sorry for the delay, but the real reason I came to Musutafu in the first place was to become a teacher here at UA. So…surprise?"_ Izuku stifled a snort as he imagined the look on the hero's face as she said that. All Might cleared her throat before continuing in her media persona. " _Anyway, onto the matter at hand. Naturally, because of your perfect score on our written exam, UA would have welcomed you as a gen ed student with open arms. But you had your sights set on a different goal: the UA Heroics Course! During the practical exam, you managed to score 51 villain points. With the cut off for qualification set at 40 points, you more than earned your place in heroics!"_

To his side, Tooru's excited smile all but vanished. "I… I didn't…"

" _What we neglected to mention is that these were not the only points you would be receiving during the exam."_ The girl's head snapped back up, eyes wide. _"How could we call ourselves a school that trains heroes if we neglected to reward heroic acts? While many of your actions were rather reckless, the proctors decided to award you with 25 additional rescue points, bringing your total score to 76 points! With your drive to help others and your potential as a hero, let me personally welcome you to the newest heroics class at UA High! This will be your hero academia!"_

Tears were welling in both teens' eyes as they looked at each other. Without a word, Tooru frantically tore open her own envelope, pulling out the folded letter and enclosed disk. As the miniature projector activated, Izuku watched his girlfriend's face change to one of confusion.

" _Hello, Hagakure,"_ spoke an unfamiliar voice. _"My name is Aizawa Shouta, also known as the pro hero Eraserhead."_ Izuku's jaw dropped and he almost began to fanboy over the hero. _"To put things simply, the number of villain points you received during the exam was not enough for you to pass. Had those been the only points available to you, we would have enrolled you in our general education course."_ Tooru visibly flinched at the words, but didn't look away _"However, as we reviewed the footage of the various examinees, we were also looking for moments of true heroism. Due to your actions during the exam, you have been awarded an additional 50 rescue points. Your final total of 74 points is more than enough to pass this practical exam. I'm looking forward to personally helping you on your path to becoming a hero, Hagakure. Welcome to UA High."_

Tooru jumped up from her spot, squealing excitedly and hopping around the room. "WE MADE IT! WE MADE IT! WE GOT IN! WE'RE GONNA BE HEROES!" A look of pride and adoration formed on the green-haired boy's face as laughed at his girlfriend's antics. She finally stopped jumping and looked back at him, quickly hiding her face in her hands. "D-don't look at me like that… Its embarrassing!"

"50 rescue points, _and_ a pro hero who took personal interest in you?" He shook his head in disbelief. "How is that not amazing?"

"W-well it sounds like you were amazing, too!" she retaliated. "You got twice the amount of villain points as me."

Izuku simply chuckled and pulled her into a hug, which she returned eagerly. "It's all thanks to you, really." She pulled back to give him a confused look. "I-If you hadn't encouraged me all those months ago, I don't think I'd have even considered taking this test."

Tooru's face returned to her soft smile. "Well then, that's just something else we have in common." With a wink, she pulled away and skipped to the bedroom door. "Now let's go help your mom with dinner."

* * *

"Just be home before it gets too late." Kaito released his daughter from his embrace, smiling down at her.

Tooru beamed back, bouncing slightly. "I will, I promise. I love you!"

"I love you, too, sweetie. I'm proud of you."

The door closed behind her as she returned to the dining room, helping Inko clear the rest of the dishes off the table. A few minutes later, with the task complete and the dishwasher running, Izuku returned from walking Ochako home. "Hey, Mom?" he called from the entryway. "Since it's so warm out tonight, I was wondering if you'd be ok with Tooru and I taking the futon up to the roof for a bit."

She could feel her heart skip a beat as Inko grinned at her son's words. "Of course, dear. Just be sure to behave yourselves and not stay up there too long."

Both teens blushed at the implications, assuring her that they would indeed behave. The older woman simply giggled and headed into the living room, leaving Tooru and Izuku to themselves.

The boy ducked into his bedroom to retrieve the necessary items; the futon, pillows, and blankets. He passed the blankets and one of the pillows to the girl, opting to carry the rest himself.

"I can't believe all four of us made it into the same class!" Tooru gushed as they stepped out into the night. "That'll definitely help make the first few days much less stressful."

Izuku smiled in agreement, chuckling lightly. "I just hope the rest of our class is just as nice as Uraraka or that horned girl."

"H-horned girl?" She could feel a cold chill run through her that had nothing to do with the night air.

Her boyfriend didn't seem to notice. "Yeah, the one who helped me up after my botched landing after I kicked the three-pointer. I never caught her name, now that I think about it…"

Tooru remained silent for the rest of the walk up the stairs to the roof, trying her best to keep her insecurities from ruining this moment.

The pair reached the roof a minute later and quickly picked a spot to roll out their futon. As Izuku finalized the pillow and blanket arrangements, Tooru skipped over to the edge of the roof and leaned over the wall. "I don't think I could ever get tired of this view," she sighed dreamily, bouncing on the balls of her feet.

She felt Izuku move up beside her, and she turned her head to see a soft smile on his face. "I bet it looks amazing…"

The hint of sadness in the boy's voice did not go unnoticed. The girl turned where she stood, leaning with her elbows resting on top of the wall and giving her boyfriend a wry smile. "I'm pretty sure you've got something better to look at," she teased, hoping to lighten his mood.

His ears reddened as he ducked his head. "I-I don't know what _you're_ seeing, b-but to me this rooftop seems pretty bland."

A giggle escaped Tooru's lips before she could pretend to be offended, so she retaliated by punching his arm "lightly."

It took a moment for their collective laughter to die down. Her smile never left her face as she bounced back over to the futon that lay on the ground, seating herself to one side. "Well, come on! Don't keep a girl waiting!" She patted the space next to her.

Izuku walked over to the futon, a broad grin on his face as he seated himself beside her. The moment his backside hit the futon, his girlfriend threw her arms around him, half tackling him onto his back. He yelped in surprise, suddenly very grateful for the carefully positioned pillows at the head of the improvised bed.

"Now this…" Tooru whispered, nestling up against him to make use of the limited space the futon provided. "I hope I _never_ get used to this."

She felt the boy shift slightly as he repositioned his arm under her head, resting his hand on her shoulder. The tender gesture caused her heart to flutter briefly in her chest.

The two rested in silence for a long moment as they both gazed up at the night sky. Tooru closed her eyes, allowing herself to be lost in sensations. The slow rise and fall of Izuku's chest, the beating of his heart under her hand, the contrast of his warmth to the cool night air. A feeling of contentment washed over her and she let out a soft sigh.

 _How can one person make me feel so..._ safe _?_

As her thoughts continued, she could feel her insecurities clawing their way to the surface. _What if…what if I don't make him as happy as he makes me? What if he finds someone else?_ Unconsciously, she gripped his shirt lightly, causing Izuku to pull her in tighter. _What if-_

"Tooru? Tell me about the stars?" The boy's quiet voice cut through the darkness of her thoughts, pulling her back to the moment. A gentle smile graced his lips as he gazed into her eyes in his own way.

"W-well," she stammered, pulling her gaze from his emerald eyes with some effort, "do...do you remember what they look like? From before…?"

Izuku shook his head slowly. "I have some memories…but they're all really hazy…"

"Oh…" Tooru was at a loss for a moment before an idea came to her mind. "Remember what you told me about what it was like...right after your accident? How it felt like the whole world was empty?" The boy nodded, and a smile formed on her lips. "Well, imagine that emptiness, but filled with millions of tiny lights."

A wave of warmth flowed through her as she watched his eyes sparkle with wonder, his lips pulling into a broad smile. "That...that sounds beautiful… Will you tell me more?"

Tooru's smile grew wider, and she began to tell Izuku more and more about the stars. She named various constellations, describing their shapes and some of their related stories. She described shooting stars and how they would shoot across the night sky. She described the Milky Way, and the colors it gave when it was visible.

"But my favorite thing about the night sky… Let me find it real- there it is! My favorite thing is the North Star." Izuku tilted his head curiously as she continued. "See, because the earth turns, it looks like all the stars are moving. The North Star is the only exception, 'cause it's right over the north pole. It's a constant, while everything else changes…" Her voice grew soft, almost sad. "It's comforting, really…"

Silence fell again on the rooftop as Tooru's fears continued to gnaw away at her. Izuku's eyes flicked back and forth, a sign that he was deep in thought.

"You know," he began slowly, "in the eleven years since I lost my sight…I thought I had forgotten what the world looks like. And I had, for the most part. Trees, lights, people…" He took a deep, shaky breath as tears welled in his eyes. Tooru could feel her heart aching for him, only able to imagine how painful the memory must be for him. "But tonight...tonight you changed that… You helped me see stars again…."

Tears began to well in her eyes and she hugged Izuku closer to herself, trying hard to shut out the voice in her head. "Ever since we met, you've been a constant in my life. You've encouraged me, you've believed in me… So, in a way…you've become _my_ North Star…"

Tooru was silent for a long moment, trying in vain to keep her emotions under control. "H-how do you know...that won't change?"

Izuku rolled onto his side to face her. "Tooru...what-"

"How do you know…" she repeated, voice trembling under the weight of her insecurities. "At UA, there are gonna be girls who are way prettier, way funnier… just… _better_ than me…" She curled in on herself, wiping the moisture from her eyes. "I don't….I don't want to lose you…."

Izuku simply stared at his girlfriend, mouth open in surprise. Tooru blushed and turned away, realizing that she had just ruined what was meant to be a romantic moment. "I-I'm sorry… I...I didn't mean to just-"

A hand brushed her cheek, wiping away a tear she didn't know was there. Her heart fluttered in her chest again as she felt him press against her back, his arm laying over her waist. "Tooru, do you have any idea how lucky I feel, knowing I'm the only one who can really see you?" Her head turned back towards his, confusion painted on her features. "If the other guys in our class could see just how beautiful you are…I wouldn't stand a chance. It probably sounds really selfish and possessive...but I'm glad I'm the only one…"

Tooru turned over in his arms after a moment, facing him and gazing into his eyes, feeling the tears returning. "Y-you mean that…?" His smile was all the answer she needed as she reached up and pulled his lips to hers. It wasn't a long kiss, nor was it very deep. But the emotions it conveyed was more than enough.

Minutes passed as the two laid there, holding each other under the light of the stars. As he held her there, however, Tooru began to feel something...change…

A mischievous grin slowly spread across her lips as she pulled back, looking down between them. "Well, hi there!"

Her laughter echoed in the night as Izuku rolled over in shame. "I'M SORRY!"

* * *

 **Hope you all enjoyed the fluff, because it is going to start taking a bit of a back seat as we move into UA (finally)! I also hoped this chapter helped get the idea across that Tooru is really insecure about herself, and if it didn't, just so you know, Tooru is really insecure.**

 **A lot of people have asked what my plans are with Ochako for this story. She will not be in this relationship (sorry, not sorry, Epsilon110), though she may be in one with another character. Before anyone asks, that will not be Katsuki. I have very personal reasons for avoiding Kacchako and, while I realize other people enjoy it as a ship, I won't be writing it.**

 **I have to give a huge shout-out to my amazing wife for this chapter. She really helped a lot in making sure this flowed as well as it could, even with all the jumps. She's also started helping me beta the earlier chapters to iron out any of the kinks there, so those will be updated as time goes on.**

 **As usual, thank you all for reading and for your support.**


	18. Dawn Over a New World

"And you have extra pencils, just in case?"

"Yes, Dad. I made sure everything was packed last night."

Kaito hugged his daughter close, running his fingers through her short locks, drawing a contented sigh from the girl."I know you're probably tired of hearing it by now, but I'm really proud of you, Tooru." He pulled back, doing his best to make eye contact as he smiled at her. "I'm sure you'll make an amazing hero."

Tooru beamed, bouncing slightly. "I'm glad I make you proud, Dad." With one final hug and a kiss on the cheek, the girl stepped out of the apartment and into the cool spring morning. There was a distinct spring in her step as she made her way down the stairs and out to the front of the building. As she approached the street, she was greeted by a very familiar sight.

"Damn, Invisalign," Katsuki huffed. "Any longer and Deku here was gonna go looking for you."

"Was not!" the green-haired boy pouted. "I was… I would have just called her or something."

A barking laugh erupted from the blond. "Don't even pretend, Deku. You were fidgeting up a damn storm out here."

As the boy blushed bright red, Tooru stifled a giggle behind her hand before skipping up to him and planting a kiss on his cheek. "Well, I think it's cute."

This only caused the boy to blush even harder and, in an attempt to hide his embarrassment, start walking towards the train station. The invisible girl skipped to catch up, linking her fingers with his as she grabbed his hand. Katsuki simply hid a smirk and followed.

"I wonder who our teacher is gonna be," Tooru mused, tapping her lip with one finger.

Izuku opened his mouth to reply, then hesitated. "Didn't Eraserhead say something about personally helping you?"

She blushed at the reminder, still a little amazed that she'd caught the attention of a pro. "I mean, yeah, but that doesn't necessarily mean he's our homeroom teacher or anything."

"What difference does it make?" Katsuki huffed from the side. "Every teacher there is a pro, so we're still gonna get the best hero training out there."

Tooru's reply was cut off by a cheerful voice as they reached the station. "Midoriya! Hagakure!"

"What the hell, Round Face? Forgot my name already?"

Ochako blushed as Izuku stifled a laugh with the back of his hand. "S-sorry, Bakugo, someone was in the way, so I only saw the other two."

"Whatever." The blond pushed his way through the crowd ahead of the other teens, pausing briefly for the others to catch up when he reached the train.

* * *

The group of students made their way through the enormous building, a look of awe plastered on most of their faces. A part of Izuku's mind wondered if the entire thing was simply a dream. It seemed far too good to be true. He'd received the quirk of the number one hero, found a beautiful girl who is now his girlfriend, and now the two of them, along with his childhood friend and a nice girl he'd met a few weeks ago, were on their way to their first class at Japan's most prestigious hero course.

"Deku, can you just keep quiet for two goddamn seconds?" Izuku yelped, only now realizing he'd been voicing his thoughts out loud, shooting a betrayed look at Tooru as she barely stifled a giggle.

Ochako's eyes widened slightly. "That's right, I was meanin' to ask that. Why do you call Midoriya 'Deku'?"

Katsuki hunched his shoulders and shoved his hands deeper in his pockets, but when no answer seemed forthcoming, Izuku decided to speak up. "It, uh, was a nickname he's used since we were little. I guess it just kinda stuck, like how I call him 'Kacchan'." The slight release of tension from his childhood friend was not missed by the green-haired boy; he knew that Katsuki no longer used the nickname as an insult, but a bit of guilt still remained that it had been the original intent.

"I like it. It has a kinda 'you can do it' vibe, ya know?" She accented her words by throwing a pretend punch.

Izuku smiled as Katsuki relaxed further. "Yeah. I guess I never noticed that before."

They still had plenty of time to spare as they reached the towering door of the 1-A classroom. The explosive teen wasted no time in pushing into the room, ignoring his peers as they marveled at the sheer size.

The moment he entered the room, however, Izuku realized the room was not empty as they had assumed it would be this early. A familiar figure echoed to his side, sitting at attention a few seats back. Ducking his head, the green-haired teen increased his pace, looking to find his assigned seat.

"Hey!" Tooru's voice rang from the doorway. Izuku's head jerked to the side, but he soon noticed that her eyes were not focused on him. The boy in the glasses stood at attention as the invisible girl all but marched up to him, a scowl painting her features. "I think you owe my boyfriend," she gestured to the green-haired boy, "an apology." _Tooru, what are you doing!?_

"Do I—" The teen turned his gaze to Izuku, then back to the girl. "If you are referring to my words during the entrance exam orientation, I feel that I was completely justified."

The girl crossed her arms, tapping her foot slightly as she maintained eye contact with the boy. "And why is that?"

"Because of his behavior throughout the presentation." _How does someone move_ that _robotically?_ "It was obvious he had no interest in what was being said and was content to be disruptive with his muttering."

"You know, I thought you were a pretty smart guy," Tooru stated, gaze briefly shifting back to Izuku, who was now sporting a huge blush, "but it's pretty obvious you don't know a lot about people, do you?" The boy looked ready to interject, but she kept talking "Everyone copes with stress differently. His way just happens to be thinking out loud. I was next to him the whole time and everything he was muttering was relevant to the exam.

"Also, of course he wouldn't look like he's paying attention to the presentation: he's _blind!_ Kinda hard for him to look at a projector screen that he can't see! If you'd have looked at him—really looked—for just a few seconds, you would have realized it. I _know_ I'm probably not as smart as you, and it took me only a minute or two to realize that! But _you_ decided to call him out in front of everyone and get him even more nervous about the exam and made him self-conscious about things outside of his control! So get your ass over there and apologize!"

The room fell silent as Izuku tried in vain to make himself as small and unnoticeable as possible. In front of him, Katsuki was sporting a maniacal grin, shoulders shaking with suppressed laughter. Ochako, in the back of the classroom, had become extremely fascinated with the surface of her desk. After a moment of silence, the taller boy bowed apologetically, first to Tooru, then to Izuku.

"I apologize for my rudeness, as I was unaware of the situation!" he shouted, torso nearly parallel to the ground. "I will do my best to be more mindful of your situation in the future!"

Izuku looked up, doing his best to make eye contact with the boy as he straightened. "I-it's fine. No harm done. And, uh, I'm Midoriya, by the way. Midoriya Izuku."

The boy bowed again. "My name is Iida Tenya, from Somei Academy."

"Somei, huh?" Katsuki huffed from where he sat, exchanging a subtle fist bump with Tooru as she passed by him. "So you're some kind of elitist, then?"

The two boys began to argue, primarily about Katsuki's disrespectful behavior of having his feet on the desk, completely unaware that the rest of the students were beginning to trickle in. Izuku simply smiled to himself and closed his eyes, trying his best to relax as he heard Tooru move up beside him. "Sorry about that," she whispered. "I think I got a little carried away there."

He shook his head. "It's fine, Tooru. It all worked out ok in the end." Turning his head, he opened his eyes and smiled at her. She stepped closer and embraced him briefly, a gesture he returned, somehow forgetting that there were a lot more people in the room than there were before.

"Holy crap! We have a co—no way! It's you! Kiri, it's the boy I was telling you about!"

Boyfriend and girlfriend jumped at the voice, turning to see who it was. It took only a moment for Izuku to realize why the speaker sounded familiar. "H-hey, you're that girl from the exam!"

The horned girl grinned at him. "I had a feeling you'd make it in! The way you handled that three-pointer was freaking awesome!"

"Yeah, Ashido was telling me about that," said the boy next to her. He had hard, spiked-up hair and revealed pointed teeth when he spoke. _That's probably Kiri..._ "Sounded like it was pretty manly."

Izuku chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of his head. "I-it was nothing, really. Plus I kinda botched the landing-"

"If you're here to socialize, you can get out."

The tired voice from the doorway caused all the students to turn. "Is...is that a sleeping bag?" Tooru asked from behind Izuku.

A man-sized shape stood up from where it had been previously laying, and a moment later a zipping sound resonated through the room. "Definitely a sleeping bag."

"It took you all eight seconds to quiet down. Not a very rational response." The now-visible man indeed looked as tired as he sounded. "This is the hero course. Time is a precious commodity. In the field, time wasted could be lives lost."

"It's Eraserhead," Tooru whispered excitedly at his side, and Izuku's eyes widened with recognition. _That's why his voice sounded so familiar!_

"My name is Aizawa Shouta, your homeroom teacher." The man walked around the teacher's podium and pulled out a UA gym uniform. "Now, first things first, head to the locker rooms and get changed, then meet me on the sports fields."

* * *

Tooru watched silently as the last few students made their way out of the locker rooms and onto the fields. She, like the rest of the students, felt totally in the dark about what their teacher had planned for them, and she had never been a big fan of suspense.

"What do you think we're gonna be doing?" a boy with a black lightning bolt pattern in his yellow hair mused.

The boy next to him, with oddly-shaped elbows shrugged. "Probably some kind of test."

"That's correct." The entire class snapped their attention to their homeroom teacher, who was making his way towards them. "We will be doing a quirk-evaluation test today."

"So we're just going to miss the entrance ceremony and orientation?" a girl with purple hair and earphone jack-shaped earlobes retorted. Some of the other students began to murmur amongst themselves, apparently agreeing with the girl.

"Time is a precious commodity, as I said before." Aizawa's voice caused the students to silence themselves, refocusing their attention. "As heroes, we don't have time to waste on frivolous events like that. UA is well known for its freestyle teaching system, and that same system applies to the teachers. We have the freedom to redesign our course schedules as needed.

"Now," the dark-haired man produced a softball from within the folds of his clothing, "I'm certain you all remember the standard fitness tests you had to perform in middle school? 50-meter dash, standing long jump, softball throw, to name a few." The class nodded, some students making vocal affirmations. "When you first performed these tests, the schools wouldn't allow you to use your quirk, looking for an average result rather than your individual capabilities." He paused for a moment, tossing the ball casually towards Katsuki, who somehow reacted quickly enough to catch it. "Bakugou, how far could you throw in middle school?"

The blond shrugged, a bored expression on his face. "I dunno. Sixty-seven meters, give or take." He made as if to toss the ball back to the teacher, but the man held up a hand, signaling the boy to wait.

"Not a bad distance, but I'm sure you can do better." Aizawa gestured towards the pitching ring. "Go ahead and try throwing with your quirk. You can do anything you'd like, just as long as you stay in the ring."

A glint of excitement formed in Katsuki's eye as he grinned, making his way to the ring. He rolled the ball around in his hands for a moment, contemplating, before taking a pitching stance. There was a pause as he pulled his arm back, then in one fluid motion he threw his arm forward as hard as he could. A massive explosion drowned out his wordless yell and the class watched as the ball soared across the field, with the exception of the purple-haired girl, who was clutching her ears in pain.

Katsuki walked out of the ring, a confident smirk plastered on his features as Aizawa pulled out what looked like a smartphone. "It's important to know your limits, especially if you want to be effective as a hero." As he spoke, he held up the device, screen facing the class, showing the distance the ball had traveled.

"705 meters!" the sharp-toothed redhead exclaimed, a wide grin on his face.

"I can't believe we get to use our quirks for this," the boy with weird elbows shouted.

"This is gonna be so much fun!" Ashido was jumping up and down with excitement.

"'Fun,' you say…" His voice was quiet, but his tone was enough to send a chill through the students, bringing another deafening silence. The pink girl seemed to shrink in on herself, clearly regretting her choice of words. "If you think your time in the hero course will be fun and games, you're sorely mistaken. You see, this test isn't merely to see what you're capable of. At the end of these eight events, the student with the lowest overall score will be deemed hopeless….and will be expelled."

A collective gasp swept across the gathered students. "Expelled?" Ochako shouted from behind Tooru. "It's our first day. How is that fair?"

Aizawa's face betrayed no emotion. "It's not. It's not supposed to be fair because nothing you will deal with as heroes will be fair." He paused briefly as his words sunk in. "Earthquakes, tsunamis, villain attacks—if life was fair, these things wouldn't happen. If life was fair, we wouldn't need heroes. If life was fair, there'd still be a class 2-A. Heroes are the ones who are supposed to correct the unfairness in this world. If you can't show me any heroic potential right here, right now, then teaching you will be a waste of my time."

Silence fell across the field as the weight of the hero's words was fully realized. Tooru's eyes widened and she felt her breath catch in her throat. _An entire class… expelled? Because they didn't have what it takes?_

"Now let's stop wasting time. First up is the 50-meter dash." The teacher began walking towards the small running track, his class trailing behind. "Iida, Asui. You two are up first."

The girl clenched her fist as she shoved her fears out of her mind. _I won't let that be me._

* * *

There were very few situations outside of hero work where Aizawa was grateful for his large, scarf-like capture weapon. His current situation, hiding his look of mild surprise, was one of those few moments.

This year's group of students was definitely showing potential. From reading each student's file, he'd had a pretty good idea who would succeed at which tests. Of course, many of the students had quirks that had been useless in many of the events, Jirou Kyouka, Kaminari Denki, and Hagakure Tooru being at the greatest disadvantage. Even the diminutive Mineta Minoru had been able to use his quirk during the sidestepping event, setting up two stacks of his odd hairballs on either side and ricocheting himself back and forth.

With each event, every student was pushing their body and their quirk to the absolute limit. It was obvious to the pro hero that every single one of them had the necessary drive and attitude to succeed.

But there was one…

As the students waited for their individual turns for the softball throw, Aizawa had his eyes locked on a certain boy with messy green hair and darting eyes. Next to the rest of the class, the thing that had been bothering him about the boy became very clear. _He's not pushing himself…_ Every other student had come out of the various tests red-faced, sweating, and breathing hard. Even Yaoyorozu, with her infinitely versatile Creation quirk, was beginning to show signs of fatigue.

Midoriya made his way up to the pitching ring, softball in hand, getting ready for his turn to throw. As the boy took his stance, about to throw, Aizawa activated his quirk.

The boy froze in mid throw, then whipped around and stared, wide eyed at his teacher. _How did he—_

"Why did you erase my quirk?" the boy demanded, a mixture of fear and confusion in his voice. Aizawa was suddenly grateful that they were far enough away that other students wouldn't overhear.

 _This is new. He shouldn't have been able to feel it. Unless…_ "You haven't been pushing yourself in these tests. Why?"

"I-I, uh…" Midoriya's eyes darted around, unseeing. "The thing is… I can't actually use all of my power. My body… it's still not quite used to it yet."

"I see," Aizawa replied with a nod, trying to hide the confusion in his voice. _An enhancement quirk that hurts its user?_ "But regardless, you need to push your limits for these tests. If your full power is dangerous to you, then use the most you can currently handle."

The boy bowed respectfully in reply. "I will, sir. Thank you."

A sigh escaped the teacher's lips as he released his quirk, watching the smile that crossed Midoriya's face at the same time. _I'll need to ask him about that later._ "You have your quirk back. Now show me what you can do."

Green bioelectricity encompassed the boy, as it had with the previous events. This time, however, each spark was noticeably larger and seemingly more volatile. Aizawa hid his grin behind his scarf as the boy pulled his arm back and _threw._

The ball soared through the air, landing not quite as far away as Bakugou's initial throw, but definitely farther than most of the other students. A soft pinging sound came from Aizawa's range finder, which he pulled from his pocket. 698.4 meters. He gave a soft nod and a smile to the green-haired boy, who returned the gesture. _Maybe I won't have to expel anyone, after all._

* * *

By the end of the last event, Tooru felt like she was going to collapse. On shaking legs, she made her way back to where Aizawa was waiting for the class to gather, a small glow of pride welling inside her. From the announcement of the test, she'd known she wouldn't place anywhere near the top; her quirk had been all but useless in each event. Other students had been in the same position, needing to rely solely on their physical prowess. Even with her handicap, she had been able to perform surprisingly well, even outscoring a few people who did get to use their quirks.

Izuku gave her a bright smile as she approached, which she returned wholeheartedly, taking his hand in hers as subtly as possible. After a moment, she felt a light nudge on her shoulder. Turning to her side, she caught sight of Ashido, who gave her a knowing wink before moving off to stand by her redheaded friend.

"Alright, pay attention," Aizawa's tired voice rang out. "Your performances in each event are reflected in your final score. I won't go over the entire scoring process, so you're just going to see the final rankings." A hologram flickered to life above the device in their teacher's hand, presenting two columns of ten, with each student's name next to their respective ranking.

The pride Tooru had been feeling earlier flooded through her when she saw how she'd placed. Sixteenth was nothing to scoff at, especially considering the disadvantage she'd had.

Izuku squeezed her hand lightly. "What's my rank?" he whispered, just quiet enough so only she could hear.

"Fourth," she replied, equally as quiet. The smile that lit up his face caused her heart to soar.

"Oh, I should probably tell you that no one is getting expelled." The smile on their teacher's face was downright creepy. "That was simply a ruse to ensure you all pushed yourselves during this test."

"What!?" the class cried out in near-perfect unison.

Aizawa simply smiled wider, then turned and started back towards the building. "That's all for today. Head back to the classroom and pick up a copy of the syllabus before you leave."

The students slowly pulled themselves from their stunned silence and made their way back towards the locker rooms. Tooru took a moment to wave to Izuku and Katsuki before joining up with the other girls.

"-believe he'd lie to us about something like that," Ochako was saying, pausing to hold the door open for the green-haired girl behind her.

"It makes sense when you think about it, ribbit," the girl croaked. "Fear is an excellent motivator."

The black-haired girl, who had shown some kind of creation quirk, spoke us as she entered the locker room behind them. "It definitely worked. I was almost certain he was deceiving us, until he mentioned the other class."

"Well, if no one got expelled, then I guess it means we all have some potential." Tooru pulled open her locker, shrugging off the top of her tracksuit. "Oh, and, uh, my name's Hagakure Tooru. Figured we'd at least all get to know each other a little."

"For sure!" Ochako cheered, obviously excited at the prospect. "I'm Uraraka Ochako."

"I'm Asui Tsuyu," the green-haired girl stated. "I'd prefer it if you'd just call me Tsuyu, though, ribbit."

The girl with the earphone jack earlobes went next, grabbing a towel and making her way towards the showers. "I'm Jirou Kyouka. Or 'you with the ears,' take your pick."

A collective giggle sounded through the locker room. Tooru could feel herself starting to relax more and more, the generally friendly nature of the other girls helping to put her mind at ease.

"My name is Yaoyorozu Momo. Though, if we're all going to be friends here, I guess you can just call me Momo." The dark haired girl sported a soft smile as she spoke, collecting her own shower supplies.

"And I'm Ashido Mina!" a voice called from one of the shower stalls, followed by a brief pause. "Wait, which one is the invisible chick?"

Tooru's eyes widened in surprise as she started up the water in her own shower. "Uh, that's me, Hagakure."

"Right." Ashido's grin was almost audible in her voice. "So, are you gonna tell us more about that green-haired boy?"

Her face flushed as she fumbled her bar of soap in surprise, hearing a light giggle from who she assumed was Ochako. "Um… I-I mean… W-what do you want to know?"

"You two are a couple, right?"

"Wait, seriously?" Jirou's voice echoed from the end shower. "You mean that boy with the weird green lighting quirk?"

"His quirk's actually an enhancement quirk," Tooru corrected, shutting off her shower once she was sure all the soap and shampoo had been rinsed off. "The electricity is just a weird side effect. But yeah, he and I have been dating for about a year and a half now."

A squeal of delight resonated through the locker room. "That's so awesome!" Ashido yelled. "I gotta hear the whole story!"

Tooru pulled open her locker and retrieved her uniform. "Well, I was walking home from school…" As she told the story of how she and Izuku met, she could feel herself falling back into her school girl persona. This time, however, it felt more natural and less like a mask.

 _I have a good feeling about this school year_.

* * *

"So that's what he was talking to you about?" Katsuki asked, pushing through the front door of UA's main building. "He felt like you weren't pushing yourself enough?"

Izuku nodded, following him through the door. "Yeah. I mean, I'm normally using about 14% power right now. I can push it to about 20%, but that puts a lot of strain on my body."

The blond let out a barking laugh. "Well there's no way you're gonna be keeping up with me if you don't push yourself, and what good is a rival who's way weaker than me?"

A smile crossed the green-haired boy's features. "You may regret that, Kacchan," he retorted. "If I start pushing myself, you might have a rough time keeping up with _me_."

Katsuki shoved his friend lightly as they reached the bottom of the school's front steps. "I'm pretty sure I'd still kick your ass in a fight, Deku."

"Izuku, Bakugou, wait up!" The two boys turned to see a pair of familiar figures walking towards them. Izuku grinned as Tooru pulled him into a quick embrace, giving Ochako a fist bump behind his girlfriend's back.

"Man, talk about stressful!" the brunette exclaimed, obviously energized from the days events. "You two did so awesome in the tests! I had no idea you were so fast, Midoriya. And Bakugou, the way you were using your explosions to fly!" She spun in a circle, imitating explosion noises that caused the rest of the group to laugh.

As the laughter began to die down, a new voice called out. "Hey, are you guys heading to the station, ribbit? Mind if I join you?"

Izuku shifted his attention to the side, catching sight of another member of class 1-A; the hunched over girl who seemed inexplicably frog-like.

"Sure, Tsuyu," Tooru replied, bouncing slightly. "We'd love to have you come with us."

The girl, Tsuyu, ribbited happily, falling into step as the group started walking towards the station. "So I'm guessing you're Midoriya Izuku," she stated, looking up at the boy in question. "Hagakure told us that you two were dating, ribbit."

The boy blushed slightly, rubbing the back of his head with his free hand, the other being held by Tooru. As he was about to reply, Katsuki's voice cut him off as the boy yelled across to the invisible girl. "Oh, so Invisalign just decided to leave me out of the story?"

Tooru giggled loudly as Tsuyu spoke up. "Oh she told us about you, Bakugou, ribbit. She said you were loud and explosive, and it definitely makes sense."

"You said what? Why don't you try saying that to my face, Invisalign?"

"Oh, I'll say it to your face, Boom Boy," she retaliated, causing the blond to let off a few small explosions and and empty growl.

Izuku couldn't help but laugh at the whole exchange as his best friend and girlfriend continued their banter.

 _I've got a really good feeling about this school year._

* * *

 **There you have it. First day of school is finally over and our characters are feeling good about it. What could possibly go wrong?**

 **This chapter was definitely a challenge for me. I really hope I can do each of the characters justice as the story goes on, so please let me know if I'm doing anything that makes them seem out of character. Or if you have suggestions on how to write certain characters, that is also appreciated.**

 **Next up, we have the battle trial. That's going to be a special sort of interesting to write, so I apologize in advance for the wait for the next chapter.**

 **Thank you again for reading, and I hope you continue to enjoy the ride!**


	19. In the Shadow of the Future

The gentle hum of the TV filled the small living room, completely ignored by the two teens currently occupying the couch. Izuku took a deep breath, turning to rest his chin atop Tooru's head as she rested against his shoulder, the steady thrumming of her heart echoing in his ears. She shifted lightly, eyes remaining closed as she spoke. "You know, I can almost hear you thinking…"

Izuku chuckled lightly. Indeed, his mind had been far afield, contemplating what tomorrow would hold for the new heroes-in-training. "And I thought _I_ was the one with good hearing."

A soft giggle rang in his ears, drawing a broader smile to his lips. "Is there something bothering you," his girlfriend asked as she lifted her head to look at him. "Or are you just distracted?"

He didn't answer for a long moment, the silence broken only by the muted voice of the newscaster. "I guess… I'm kinda nervous about tomorrow…"

"Why's that, Izu?"

"Well…" Izuku leaned his head back, thinking. "The big thing is that I don't want the rest of the class to treat me differently because I'm blind…"

Tooru nodded slowly for a moment before, sitting up straight, turning in her seat to face the boy. "So, what are you going to do to avoid that? I mean, a few people already know, so it's really only a matter of time…"

The boy sighed heavily, rubbing the back of his head. "Apparently all the teachers know, and they each have binders for me with all the material for the term in braille. The other issue is the fact that I can't really take notes in class like everyone else, but I do have an idea to explain that… But you're right; I can't hide it forever." He leaned forward with a sigh, elbows resting on his knees as he massaged his temples.

"You know, I can help you with that," Tooru replied, a thoughtful tone in her voice. "You'd just have to tell me what this master plan of yours is."

A brief silence fell between them as Izuku gathered his thoughts. "Have you ever heard of a condition called dysgraphia?" The girl shook her head. "Well, it's like dyslexia but with writing. Basically, the person lacks the ability to accurately write what they're thinking in a coherent way."

Tooru nodded thoughtfully for a moment before replying. "So, your plan is pretty much to say 'I'm not taking notes because my writing sucks,' huh?"

"That'd definitely be overly-simplified," Izuku replied with a grin, "but that's pretty much the gist of it. I'll have a recorder up on the teacher's podium so I can have some kind of reference for what we learn in class. I just hope…" He let his voice trail off as his mind began pulling his earlier fears back to the surface of his consciousness. "I guess I'm just overthinking things and getting myself all worked up over nothing."

"Sounds about right," Tooru quipped with a bright smile, poking the boy playfully on the forehead. "I mean, your excuse for not taking notes seems like it'll fly for a good while. Besides, it's not like Uraraka or Iida started treating you differently after finding out you're blind, so it shouldn't be an issue if other people find out at some point."

Izuku could feel his own smile growing, his girlfriend's simple attempts to cheer him up working better than he could have hoped. "I guess I'll just have to hope for the best," he mumbled, feeling Tooru nod against his shoulder in reply.

"Ok, so that's the main issue," the girl stated after a brief silence, pulling her head away from her boyfriend's shoulder. "Anything else you need me to fix?"

A snort echoed from the green-haired boy as he shook his head. "I mean, unless you're psychic and can tell me what we're doing for our first Hero Training class tomorrow, not really." His grin evolved into laughter as Tooru made a show of putting both hands up to her temples, squeezing her eyes shut as if in deep concentration. The display didn't last very long as the girl quickly lost herself to a fit of giggles as well, letting herself be pulled into a gentle embrace.

Minutes melded into hours, and soon the light outside began to fade. As the last rays of sunlight gave way to night, the door of the Midoriya apartment swung slowly open. "Izuku," Inko called from the entryway, noticing the lights still on in the kitchen. "I'm home."

The only reply came in the faint sounds emanating from the television in the living room, a sign that someone was indeed home. As Inko rounded the corner into the main room, however, the sight that greeted her brought a gentle smile to her lips.

On the couch, Izuku was sitting mostly upright with his head tilted to the side as if supported by something unseen. Tooru, as indicated by the seemingly unoccupied clothing to the boy's side, had wrapped both of her arms around one of his, as if using it as a makeshift stuffed animal. From their respective positioning, it was obvious that Izuku's head was, in fact, resting against Tooru's.

A moment passed while Inko admired the scene in front of her before fatigue began to take over. The woman stifled a yawn with her arm as she quietly padded her way into the living room and reached around the couch for one of their spare blankets. As gently as possible, she spread the light blanket over the sleeping couple, taking a brief moment to make sure Izuku's alarm was active before heading off to bed herself.

* * *

"You know, I thought having pro heroes as teachers would make classes not suck so much," the pink-skinned Mina lamented as she followed her invisible classmate through the lunch line. "I think Present Mic's radio personality is making me hate English even more."

"Yeah, he definitely enjoys hearing himself talk," Tooru agreed, thanking Lunch Rush as the hero loaded food onto her tray. "At least he doesn't make things weird like Midnight apparently does. How do you turn a discussion on first generation cape designs into a string of innuendos? That should be illegal!"

Mina snorted, grinning widely as the two maneuvered their way through the maze of tables, chairs, and students towards a familiar mop of green hair. "Just don't let her find out you're dating Midori here. I've heard she has her own special version of 'The Talk' for her students."

It came as no surprise to Tooru that Izuku visibly blushed at Mina's comment, even though they were a good distance from his table. "Don't let Izuku hear you say that," she told her classmate, trying to mask her own embarrassment. "He'd probably die of embarrassment at just the thought alone."

"Too late," the boy in question replied, feigning a pained voice and slowly slumping low in his seat. "Already dying."

Tooru laughed and gave her boyfriend a light-hearted shove, causing him to grin as he pulled himself upright. Across the table, the bespectacled Iida opened his mouth as if to protest the display of affection, but was quickly interrupted by Ochako. "So, who's excited for Hero Training after this?"

Mina pumped a fist enthusiastically in reply. "I'm so excited! It's why I wanted to come to this school in the first place!"

"Ashido!" Iida gasped, looking appalled. "As a student of such a prestigious academy as UA, how can you suggest that your entire education hinges around one single class?"

"I'm pretty sure the heroics program is what makes UA such a 'prestigious academy,' Iida," Ochako replied. "I'm pretty sure it's why most of the students here applied."

The blue-haired boy adjusted his glasses. "That may well be the case, but to belittle—"

"So what do you think we'll be doing for class today?" Tooru interrupted as she kicked Iida's foot below the table. "I really hope it's not just an hour-long orientation."

Mina slumped in her chair dramatically for a moment. "Ugh, that would be the worst. But with All Might as our teacher, I doubt it would be something like that."

"I dunno," Izuku mused, tapping his now-empty tray with his chopsticks. "I bet she can be kind of a pain in the ass as a teacher."

The invisible girl shot her boyfriend a quizzical look. "What gives you that idea? Isn't this her first time being a teacher?" _You're not gonna tell them about your own training with All Might, are you?_

The boy shrugged. "There were a bunch of theories going around on a forum a while back. People were speculating what different heroes would be like as trainers or teachers."

A collective nod of understanding came from the other students seated at the table. Their conversation devolved into another round of small talk before they all cleared their trays and headed back to their home room. Slowly the rest of class 1-A filed into the room, each taking their respective seats as the start of their first ever heroics class drew nearer.

The bell rang to signal the start of the class period and silence swept across the room. A moment later, a voice echoed through the door, causing Tooru to turn and grin back at Izuku. **"PREPARE FOR HELL, STUDENTS!"**

The door burst open.

" **BECAUSE I AM HERE!"**

* * *

"I'm truly sorry for not texting you at all," Inko said as she ushered Kaito into the living room, setting the tray of tea down on the small table before returning to the kitchen. "The thought honestly didn't even cross my mind until this morning."

The man smiled and shook his head. "It's not a problem at all. I'd had a feeling she'd gone home with Izuku, but you know what it's like being a concerned parent.

Inko smiled in return, setting the small jar of sugar next to the tea pot. "I understand that feeling all too well, especially after hearing about that villain attack last year."

"Well, it's definitely a good thing that they have each other now," Kaito replied, taking a sip of his tea before adding a small scoop of sugar. After a second sip, he sighed contentedly and let himself relax on the small couch. "Which reminds me, I still intend to keep my promise of cooking dinner for you one of these days."

The green-haired woman grinned, waving her hand dismissively. "I was mostly joking when I made you promise me that."

"Oh, I know." A small chuckle resonated from the man as he sipped his tea. "But you've shown so much hospitality towards me and my daughter over the years. It's only right that I show some in return."

Inko laughed. "If I didn't know any better, I'd think you were trying to woo me or something."

Kaito's grin widened. "If my daughter's happiness wasn't the price to pay, I'd probably be trying harder." A blush crept onto Inko's face at the comment, which caused the man to chuckle before he continued. "But no, I'm simply hoping to be as good a friend to you as you have been to me."

The woman did her best to hide her growing blush behind her teacup. "You make a good point there... I don't want to imagine how the two of them would react if we did decide to date."

A comfortable silence filled the apartment as the two adults finished their tea. "I do have to thank Izuku one of these times," Kaito stated after a minute or so, causing Inko to quirk an eyebrow. "As a parent, I've always been concerned for my daughter's safety. Moreso after her mother left, since it became my burden alone. But with Izuku around her so much now, I feel like I can truly rest easy. I know he would never do anything to hurt her."

"I've honestly never seen him so happy as when he's with her," Inko agreed, a thoughtful expression crossing her features as she paused. "As much as I hate to say it, I'm pretty sure he'd protect her from anything, even if it meant risking his own life."

* * *

 **Whew! Sorry that took so long to get out, guys. Things have been a bit crazy on my end, but it's calming down. Updates will definitely be more regular now (probably once every week or two), but I don't have a set schedule currently. That being said, the Battle trial will be coming soon and I really hope you all enjoy how that goes down.**

 **That all said, thank you all for your patience and continued support. You're comments and concern really mean a lot to me, and I truly can't thank you enough.**


	20. Prelude To A Storm

A barely suppressed smile crossed Izuku's face as he opened the metallic case that lay resting on the bench in the locker room. As if in a trance, he reached down and pulled out the neatly folded bundle that was his very own hero costume. Just a few short years ago, the idea of having an actual costume would have been nothing but a pipe dream. Even now, as he moved his grip to the shoulders and let the garment unfold, the reality of the situation had not yet fully sunk in.

To his side, Kacchan hid a grin as his gaze shifted between the blind boy and the fabric he was holding. "Looks like they got the colors just right," he muttered, almost laughing as his friend let out a sigh of relief. Izuku had asked for most of the jumpsuit to be the same green as his hair, with a mixture of red, white, and black highlights. Obviously, Tooru had been left in charge of the actual drawing and color scheme, but regardless of how much trust he had in his girlfriend, Izuku's inability to see color left him with a decent level of apprehension about how the final product would turn out.

"So what do you think All Might is gonna have us do for this 'Battle Trial'?" One boy asked as he shrugged on a long sleeved jacket. Denki Kaminari, if Izuku's memory was correct.

The boy with the tail, Ojiro, replied, "Probably one-on-one sparring or something similar. Something to gauge our base abilities."

"That would be the most logical approach," Iida added with a nod, working his way into what appeared to be a body suit covered in a combination of knight armor and car parts. "I doubt All Might would have us do something overly intensive on our first day."

The rest of the conversation quickly moved on to discussing each other's costumes, which Izuku let his mind filter out as he pulled on the jump suit. He was fairly satisfied at the sturdy feel of the material; according to the description the support department had left in the case, the fabric was both heat absorbing and tear resistant in order to compensate for his increased speed when using his quirk. The elbow length gloves and combat style boots all had a non-newtonian gel layer built in to act as a shock nullifier, further decreasing the chance of him injuring himself. As he pulled the accessories on, he was pleasantly surprised to feel each device constrict slightly, finalizing the fit so there would be no uncomfortable rubbing without restricting his movement.

"-that invisible girl's costume will be." Kirishima's voice broke through Izuku's consciousness. "Seems like she'd have a hard time having a suit that'd work well for her quirk."

A boy with large, oddly shaped elbows, Sero, answered as Izuku turned to reply. "I'm sure the support department has some way to work around that. Not like she's the first hero with an invisibility quirk, right?"

"But it'd be so much hotter if she actually were naked, dontcha think?"

All eyes turned to the diminutive boy who spoke, then quickly shifted to Izuku as his locker door shut with far more force than necessary. "Do you want to run that by me again?" he said through gritted teeth. A part of him was surprised at how much anger the comment had brought out in him. A part of him knew it wasn't very heroic to threaten a classmate. The rest of him didn't really care.

Mineta's eyes went wide as the gravity of what he had said sunk in. "Oh, shit! I forgot she's your girl, sorry!" His words ran together as he grabbed the last pieces of his costume and all but ran for the door.

It took several moments for Izuku to will himself to calm down and forcibly relax the tension in his body. He took a deep breath then turned back to his locker, wincing slightly as he noticed the slight bend in the metal.

"In all the years I've known you, Deku," Kacchan said with a wide grin on his face, "I never thought I'd actually see you snap at someone."

Izuku rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "I know he probably didn't mean anything by it, but that was a pretty messed up comment altogether."

Kacchan laughed, closing his own locker and following his friend out of the locker room with the rest of the heroes in training. "I'm pretty sure I would have blown the midget up if it'd been me."

"Yeah," the green-haired boy agreed with a smile. "Yeah, you would have."

* * *

A mix of emotions filled Tooru as she watched the rest of her classmates make their way into the empty cityscape. On the one hand, seeing everyone in their various hero costumes was exciting, and the reality that they were in fact heroes in training sank in further. On the other, there was a slight pang of jealousy forming in her chest as she realized yet again just how little she would stand out amongst the rest of the heroes in training: the only visible part of her costume were her gloves, and she wouldn't even leave those on in a situation where she would need full use of her quirk.

It didn't take long for Izuku to spot her and Ochako, who had stayed near her during the walk from the main building, and he quickly made his way over to the two girls. "Looks like they got the colors just right," she said with a grin as he drew closer. "Though I still think those yellow highlights would be better in white."

Izuku grinned in return. "I can't really agree or argue with you there. Thanks again for helping with the design. It definitely helps to have a girlfriend with an eye for detail." Even though Tooru knew Izuku's comment was intended to disguise the fact that he was blind, she couldn't help but blush at his compliment. The boy turned to the brunette and added, "Also, I like the space-age look you have going on, Uraraka. It really goes well with your quirk."

The girl in question beamed. "You think so? Its kinda what I was going for, but didn't really know how well it'd work out."

"See?" Tooru bumped her friend with her shoulder. "Told you there was nothing to worry about."

Ochako's smile grew, but her reply was cut off as a black and yellow form exited a nearby building. "Well, kids," All Might called, her trademark smile stretching across her features. "They say 'clothes make the hero,' and they sure aren't wrong with you." The small group of students parted as the veteran hero made her way forward. "Now I'm sure you all are wondering what today's exercise will be, so let's get to the point here. While the most publicized hero work takes place out in the open, most of what we do actually happens indoors. Today, you will be simulating one of these scenarios."

As All Might spoke, she reached into the bag she was carrying and pulled out two boxes, which she set on the ground, then pulled out a small bag. Turning back to face the class, she continued with her explanation. "Each of you will pull a letter from this bag, which will determine who your partner will be. Then we will pull from these boxes to determine who will be the heroes and who will be the villains."

"Ma'am," Iida interjected, his arm shooting straight into the air. "Would it not be more advantageous for us to choose a partner who's quirk would compliment our own?"

The hero grinned. "That is an excellent point, young Iida. That said, does anyone have an idea why we will be choosing teams at random?" A few hands rose, and All Might pondered for a bit before choosing one. "Ms. Asui, correct?"

Tsuyu ribbited in affirmation before answering. "Heroes don't usually have the luxury of choosing who they work with. Especially in an emergency, ribbit."

"Exactly right." All Might's smile grew. "While there are situations where a team of heroes will be selected for a specific assignment, most cooperation has to be done on the fly. Being able to improvise and plan quickly is essential for being a successful hero. Does that answer your question, young Iida?"

"Very much so," the boy in white armor replied, bowing. "Thank you for the insight."

"That's what these lessons are for, is it not? Now, let's get to it. Everyone, come on up and grab a chip from this bag."

* * *

'It's great that the letters are engraved and all,' Izuku thought, running his thumb back and forth over the indent on the chip he'd pulled from the bag. 'But it'd be a lot more helpful if I had any idea what letter this was.'

"Ah, Midoria!" Iida's voice caught Izuku's attention and he turned to face the bespectacled boy. "Have you found your teammate yet?"

The green-haired boy shook his head. "I'm not your partner by chance, am I?" He held up his token so his classmate could read the letter.

Iida shook his head. "No, I'm on team G." There was a pause where the boy seemed to realize the predicament Izuku was in. "I don't know who else is on team F, sadly."

"No worries. Thanks for the help, though." Izuku smiled, then turned back towards the larger group of students. Many of the pairs had already found each other, since Izuku was one of the last students to draw his chip. To one side, he could hear Sero and Tooru chatting, telling each other about their quirks. Ashido was paired with the boy with the bird head, Tokoyami if he recalled correctly.

"You're not the other person on team F, are you?"

The green-haired boy turned, noticing a caped figure now standing just to his side. 'Are those...sunglasses?' "Uh, yeah. Yeah that's me," he replied. "I'm sorry, remind me your name again?"

The boy beamed. "Magnifique! And I'm Aoyama Yuga. My fabulous quirk is Navel Laser. I'm able to shoot a laser beam from my navel, focused through this laser."

Izuku opened his mouth to reply and explain his own quirk, but was cut off by All Might calling for the class's attention yet again. "Now that you've had time to find your teammates, let's explain what you'll all be doing, shall we? If you'll follow me…" All Might picked up the two boxes, then turned towards one of the nearby buildings and entered, leading the class to the top floor. Here, a series of monitors had been set up, showing various angles and areas of another building nearby.

"The villain team will be given 5 minutes to hide a bomb somewhere in the building." She gestured to the large paper mache structure positioned at the entrance to the building displayed on the monitors. "During that time, they can prepare in any way they deem necessary to protect the device. After those five minutes are up, the heroes will enter the building. They will have fifteen minutes to either capture the villain team or secure the device. The villains, on the other hand, need to either restrain the heroes or delay them until time runs out. Any questions?"

"Are there any restrictions to using our quirks?" One of the girls, Yaoyorozu, asked. Izuku felt his face flush as he turned his attention in her direction. Her costume definitely left little to the imagination.

Kacchan spoke up as well. "Can we just knock our enemy out rather than tying them up?"

All Might grinned. "You can use your quirk as much as you'd like in this exercise. Though it should go without saying that I expect you to use some level of restraint when fighting each other. I'm sure no one wants to tell their parents they got kicked out of school for crippling or killing a fellow classmate." A few of the students winced, knowing those results were a very real possibility given some of their quirks. Their teacher waited a few more seconds, but when no more questions seemed forthcoming, she reached down and picked up the two boxes. "Now, let's see what our first match up will be."

She rested both boxes on the table in front of her, then reached both hands inside. With a pause for dramatic effect, All Might pulled her left hand out, examining the token. "Looks like our heroes will be Team J, Ms. Ashido and Mr. Tokoyami." She then removed her right hand. "They'll be up against Villain Team C, Mr. Satou and Ms. Asui."

The teams in question looked at each other for a moment before making their way out of the observation room and towards the challenge area. "As for the rest of you, I hope you pay close attention to how your classmates handle this situation."

Izuku quietly made his way to Tooru's side and whispered low enough so only she could hear. "Are you gonna tell me what's happening?"

"You mean you can't hear them from here?" His girlfriend grinned at him. "Don't worry. I'll give you more color commentary than you could ever want."


	21. Bright Lights

"So let me get this straight," Mina said as she lowered herself into a crouch, one leg extended to help loosen the muscles. "Your quirk is a sentient… shadow…" The boy with the raven's head, Tokoyami, nodded. "Does it, like, have a mind of its own?"

Another nod. "In essence, Dark Shadow is a separate entity, though we are bonded as one." The cloaked boy closed his eyes. "It has its advantages, I must admit, though at other times it feels like a curse."

Mina hummed in thought as she finished the last of her stretches. "Sounds like you'd probably be better in a head on fight than I would be," she mused, standing up. "Any ideas on how to handle this?"

Tokoyami pondered for a moment, tapping his beak with a finger. "Our biggest disadvantage would be not knowing where the other team has hidden the faux bomb. It may be best to split up and search for it. But that does make us vulnerable…"

A grin sprouted on Mina's face. "No, I don't think so. My quirk makes it easy for me to outrun most people, and you've basically got a built in alarm system. Besides," she tapped the small in-ear radio each team was given to communicate with, "we can keep each other updated if we find anything."

"A very good point. I'll make sure Dark Shadow keeps his attention on my surroundings." The boy turned back towards the building. "Besides, with how little we know of the other team's capabilities, there is little we could plan for when it comes to one-on-one combat."

"Yeah, we should probably try to avoid a fight if we can help—"

"Time's up!" All Might's voice sounded in the students' ears. "Heroes, you may enter the building!"

Mina's smile widened as she and her teammate entered the building. 'Time to prove that I really have what it takes.'

* * *

"It looks like they're splitting up. Mina's going upstairs while Tokoyami is staying low." Tooru tried her best to keep her voice low so as to avoid drawing attention.

To her side, Izuku nodded, his eyes facing the monitors. "Seems like a smart idea. Ashido is pretty fast, so she'd be able to cover more ground or get out of danger fast. But that definitely leaves Tokoyami vulnerable to an ambush. I barely know anything about his quirk, but I don't think his Dark Shadow could stand up against Satou when he's powered up-"

Tooru couldn't help but roll her eyes at her boyfriend's ramblings, but at the same time, the stares from the rest of the class were becoming more than a little uncomfortable. At the front of the room, All Might was grinning at the boy, obviously trying not to laugh. After a few more moments of muttering, the hero finally spoke up.

"Young Midoriya." No reply. "Midoriya." More muttering. The invisible girl gave Izuku a quick jab to his ribs, causing him to turn, first to her, then to the teacher. "It seems like you've noticed something about the hero team's plan?"

Izuku nodded. "Uh, y-yeah. It, uh, seems like they're taking a big risk in splitting up. A-ashido is obviously the more mobile of the two and could probably find the bomb much faster on her own, but it leaves Tokoyami open to an ambush. They don't know if both villains stayed with the bomb, or if one or both went hunting."

"An excellent point, Young Midoriya," All Might said with a slow nod towards the student. "While time is of the essence, Ms. Ashido would definitely be at a disadvantage if her teammate was captured."

A boy with a tail on the other side of the room spoke up at this. "But looking at the video, it seems like he's using his quirk for recon. He's probably having Dark Shadow keep an eye out for the other team as well."

The pro hero nodded again, smiling. "Right you are Young Ojiro. It would seem his Dark Shadow has some level of autonomy."

Tooru turned back to the monitors, just in time to see Tokoyami reach the second floor before he moved to the nearest door. A dark shape extended from under his cloak and slid under the door frame, then returned to its hiding place as the bird-headed boy moved on to the next room. As he moved, she was sure she could see a set of glowing eyes peeking out from the back of the cloak.

She quietly relayed this all to Izuku, watching a smile tug at the corners of his mouth. It never ceased to amaze her just how excited this boy could get about even the simplest of quirks.

The rest of the match up went by very quickly. At the five minute mark, Tokoyami was ambushed by Tsuyu, who had hidden herself beneath a set of stairs, but the frog-girl was not prepared for a two-on-one fight and was quickly captured. Mina found the bomb room shortly after and radioed her teammate. Once they regrouped, it was a simple matter of having Tokoyami keep Satou at bay while the pink girl made a break for the bomb.

"And with that," All Might boomed, her voice amplified outside the building, "the hero team wins!" Mina cheered silently on the monitor while Tokoyami simply folded his arms with a look of satisfaction. "Once you have Ms. Asui untied, please make your way back to the observation room."

* * *

It took every ounce of willpower that Izuku possessed to keep himself from rushing Tokoyami and bombarding him with questions about his quirk the moment the bird-headed student returned to the room. Instead, he did his best to distract himself by joining Tooru in congratulating Ashido on her victory. Any chatter was quickly cut short, however, as All Might immediately called for their collective attention.

"Well class, with the first of the trials out of the way, lets see what everyone learned." With a smile, the hero turned her attention to the slightly bruised Tsuyu. "Would someone give us a quick overview of what each team's plans were?" A few hands rose into the air. "Young Kirishima."

The spiky haired boy grinned as he spoke. "Well, we couldn't hear what was being said, but the hero team obviously decided to split up and cover more ground while searching for the bomb. I guess they expected their quirks would keep them safe in the case of an ambush or something." Both Mina and Tokoyami nodded in affirmation of the boy's words. "The villains wanted to try and thin out the heroes a bit by having Asui hiding near one of the stairwells and ambush one of them, relying on Satou's strength to guard the bomb." Tsuyu ribbited, further confirming Kirishima's theory.

All Might's smile grew. "An excellent analysis, young man. Very well done. Do any of the combatants have anything to add?" The four students in question shook their heads. "Then in that case… Ms. Asui, what do you think caused your team to lose?"

Tsuyu tapped her chin. "I think the biggest problem was not knowing much about the heroes' quirks," she began slowly. "We had a good idea of what Ashido could do, ribbit, but we were pretty in the dark about Tokoyami. If we knew his Dark Shadow could act independently, we probably would have had a different plan altogether."

"That brings up an excellent point." Izuku felt a slight chill as All Might's expression became very serious. 'Last time I saw her like this…' "If you learn nothing else today, class, you had better remember this: you will never know your opponent's true capabilities. You may know a lot about them and their quirk, but if you assume you know everything they can do, you will have already lost."

For a long moment, no one said a word. The seriousness and intensity with which All Might had spoken seemed to have a huge impact on each of them. Finally, the hero let out a long sigh before continuing. "That said, I am not expecting perfection from any of you. The purpose of this class is for you to learn, and making mistakes is the best way to accomplish that." She turned and reached her hands into the two boxes yet again. "So let's get a move on, shall we?

"The heroes for this next round will be…" She paused for effect before revealing the contents of her left hand. "...Team F, Mr. Midoriya and Mr. Aoyama!" Izuku turned towards his teammate and started making his way towards the exit. All Might examined her right hand next, and Izuku could have sworn she suppressed a laugh. "They will be up against Villain Team B, Mr. Sero and Ms. Hagakure!"

A barking laugh erupted from Kacchan, who was standing just behind the young couple. Next to Tooru, Ochako stifled a fit of giggles behind a hand. Tooru, on the other hand, was sporting a broad grin, mirroring the look on her boyfriend's face. The rest of the students wore expressions that ranged from outright confusion at the reactions of their classmates to grins of entertainment as they obviously were eagerly waiting to see how this "Battle of Lovers" would turn out.

The two teams left the observation room and made their way towards the building where the fake bomb was located, the heroes walking a short ways in front of the villains. "Well, Aoyama," Izuku smiled at his teammate. "Are you ready for this?"

The french boy laughed. "I don't think you should worry about me. But what about you? Are you ready to go up against your petite amie?"

As Aoyama spoke, Izuku caught a second voice behind him speaking just loud enough for him to hear. "Hey, Izuku. Ready to surprise some people?"

His only answer to both was a laugh.

* * *

For how big the fake bomb was, Tooru was a little surprised at exactly how light it was. Maybe all the training she'd done alongside Izuku had some role to play, but she felt barely any strain as she and Sero made their way up to the top of the building. After a short search, the two students found a room that they felt would work perfectly for the short plan they'd concocted. It was fairly spacious with two pillars in the center. The back wall was, surprisingly, devoid of any windows, making it an even easier location to fortify.

"Ok, so we'll tape the bomb up to the ceiling in that corner," Sero said thoughtfully, indicating a spot on the front wall. "If nothing else it'll make it harder for them to reach."

Tooru nodded in agreement. "You may want to string up some tape as a trap as well. We need to give ourselves as much of an advantage as possible."

The tape user hesitated slightly as he was securing the bomb. "Sounds like you have your doubts," he stated. "Are you thinking we need to try to capture them rather than delay them?"

The invisible girl nodded. "We can't be sure if they'll split up or stay together, but either way, I think hunting them down will be our best option. Especially since it'll keep them away from the bomb longer."

A grin crossed Sero's features. "Then how about you scout ahead, since you're invisible and all, then radio me when you find them. That way, we can team up and one of us can capture while the other distracts."

Tooru knew that catching Izuku by surprise would be next to impossible on her own. 'But if I can keep him occupied, then maybe….' She grinned back at her teammate. "You finish up here. I'll go camp out on one of the lower floors."

* * *

"Time's up! Heroes, you may enter the building now!"

One for All burst to life within the green-haired boy as he ramped it up to 10%, unconsciously flexing and unflexing his muscles as they adjusted to the power boost. He grinned at Aoyama, who smiled back as the two heroes entered the building.

"Remember, keep your ears open," Izuku said, his voice little more than a whisper as they climbed the stairs to the second floor. "They'll probably be waiting for us on this floor or the next."

Behind him, Aoyama nodded, turning his head at each intersection as they made their way through the building, pausing to check a few rooms along the way. "You said your quirk enhances your hearing as well, no? I feel like I'm going to be pretty useless unless we have to fight."

Silence fell between the two as they reached the staircase to the next floor. As the two heroes entered the third level of the building, Izuku quickly picked up on the form of Tooru making her way through one of the nearby hallways. Wordlessly, he lead the way in the opposite direction, taking two turns before speaking. "I'm pretty sure I heard someone behind us. You keep going and checking rooms while I go check. Radio if you find anything." The caped boy nodded and headed off, leaving Izuku alone.

"One of these days, I swear I'll catch you off guard." Tooru's voice echoed slightly in the open space as Izuku made it back to the staircase.

Izuku grinned as he fell into a ready stance. "Not likely, since today is they day you are brought to justice. I've hunted you far too long to let you escape again"

He knew Tooru wanted to laugh at his display, but she restrained herself somehow, dropping into a ready stance as well. "I sure hope you're ready to prove those words, Hero. Because it very well may be you who falls today."

* * *

"Wait, is Midoriya…"

Murmurs of confusion bubbled up amongst the students in the observation room as they wondered what exactly was taking place on the monitor. All Might turned to hide her grin and tapped a few buttons on the control panel. The screen that displayed Izuku seemingly shadow boxing switched to an infrared view, revealing the truth of the matter.

"WHAT THE SHIT!?" Kaminari shouted from the back, putting words to the looks of shock that adorned the students' faces. "Can he really see her!?"

"There's no way!" countered Yaoyorozu. "Hagakure said he had an enhancement quirk. That wouldn't allow him to see her."

A not-so-small debate erupted amongst the students as All Might did her best not to laugh.

* * *

From the first punch, Tooru had no intention of holding back. She knew that her and Sero's success greatly hinged on whether or not they could capture Izuku and get him out of the fight, so for now, her whole goal was to keep all his attention on her.

A grunt of effort escaped her as she deflected yet another enhanced kick off her forearm, a spot which she was sure would be sporting a nasty bruise when all was said and done. Using some momentum from the kick, she tucked into a roll before swinging one leg out in a low circle, attempting to take out Izuku's legs. He hopped nimbly over the kick, but received a quick jab below his ribs as Tooru righted herself.

The two separated yet again, both breathing hard from the exertion. Their fight hadn't been going much longer than a minute, but they had both gone all out from the get go. "I'm impressed, hero," she fake-taunted. "It seems you've gotten faster since our last fight."

"I could say the same," Izuku replied with a grin. "But I must apologize, as this fight will end soon." Tooru's eyes widened as she watched the telltale green electricity that accompanied Izuku's quirk increase in intensity and volatility. The boy turned his head slightly. "Aoyama! Stairs!"

"Sero!" Tooru yelled as Izuku rushed her, moving faster than before. She knew she didn't have long before her boyfriend would wear her down enough to capture her, and she prayed Sero wasn't too far.

A well timed duck caused Izuku's foot to sail harmlessly over her and she threw a jab towards his ribs again. He deflected the punch and was about to send another kick towards her legs, but he suddenly jumped backwards. Confused, Tooru looked back up to see a line of tape falling where the green-haired boy had been a moment before.

"Sorry I'm late," Sero said with a grin, "but this is where you fall, Hero."

"Not if I have anything to say about it!" The three students turned in the direction of the new voice, seeing Aoyama come around the corner.

Before anyone else could react, the prismatic belt on the blond's abdomen began to glow.

And it was aimed directly at Tooru.

Everything following seemed to move in slow motion. The glowing of the belt grew in intensity just before a beam of pure white shot forward. On instinct, Tooru curled in on herself, covered her head with her arms, and _tensed_.

A moment later, she felt her body erupt with intense heat as the floor gave way beneath her.


	22. The Start of Something New

Jirou whistled in approval after watching the green-haired figure dodge the incoming line of tape from Sero's elbow. All Might had changed the display back to a regular spectrum to help the rest of the class differentiate between the different figures on the screen. "Damn, Izuku moves fast! Does his quirk give him some kind of ESP?"

"Nah." Bakugou shook his head, chuckling lightly. "It does boost his senses a lot. Probably increases his reaction time, too."

"That still doesn't explain the lightn—" Tsuyu's words died in her throat as Aoyama activated his quirk.

Sixteen students and one teacher watched helplessly as the energy beam that emanated from the caped boy's abdomen seemed to impact empty air. The hunched over form of Tooru briefly came into view before the monitor went white, then faded to black as the feed died.

Seconds after the display faded, a low rumble could be heard from the direction of the practice building, drawing the attention of the students. "What the—" Kirishima began, stopping himself as the video on the monitor came back to life.

A collective gasp echoed in the observation room. While most of the feed was shrouded in dust, it was still easy enough to make out the pile of rubble and the slowly shifting body of Izuku.

"Young Yaoyorozu, Young Uraraka." The two girls looked up as All Might called their names. "Both of you, come with me."

* * *

There were two things that filled Tooru's world the moment her consciousness returned, one shortly after the other. First was the destruction. The slowly settling dust cloud and chunks of rubble surrounding and covering her reminded her of a disaster movie. She coughed and lifted her head to see what had become of the other students, but instantly regretted the choice as the second phenomenon replaced the first.

Pain.

From the instant her eyes opened, she felt as if every single muscle in her body was recovering from an intense workout routine. But as soon as she attempted to move, the whole world seemed to flip end over end and a bout of intense nausea forced the remains of her lunch to mix with the rubble that surrounded her.

"Tooru," Izuku's voice broke through the gloom. "Tooru, can you hear me?"

The invisible girl squeezed her eyes shut as she tried to turn towards her boyfriend's voice, fighting back another wave of nausea and losing spectacularly. "Yeah… I can hear you," she finally replied after her second round of retching, voice hoarse. "Ugh… Did anyone get the license plate on that truck?"

A wheezing chuckle came from above. "Hagakure," Sero coughed. "I'm pretty sure you were the truck."

There was a light grating sound from some of the nearby pieces of cement shifting as Izuku slowly made his way towards her. As he got closer, however, Tooru heard him inhale sharply. "Izuku? What-"

"Students!" All Might's voice echoed from the first floor of the building. "Can any of you hear me?" The four of them called back in reply, and within moments the pro hero, accompanied by Yaoyorozu and Ochako, arrived at the top of the stairs on the second level.

Izuku immediately spoke up. "All Might, I need your help. Tooru's—"

"I see it, Young Midoriya." All Might stepped carefully over the pile of rubble, trying her best not to disturb any of the larger chunks of concrete. "Ms. Hagakure, I'm going to need you to remain as still as you can."

"O-Ok. I can do that." The seriousness of their teacher's voice gave Tooru pause. "W-what's wrong?"

"There's a large chunk of debris on your left leg," Izuku replied. "If you can't feel it… then your brain is probably suppressing the sensation." Tooru's heart skipped a beat and she felt a chill run through her. All the times she'd ever heard about someone's brain suppressing something painful usually involved a broken bone or other serious injury.

The next thing Tooru heard was Izuku and All Might counting to three, followed shortly by a loud thud as a large block of concrete was shifted aside. A second later, Izuku hissed sharply. "Shit…"

"What!?" Without thinking, Tooru began to turn onto her side, wanting to see what had caused that particular reaction from her boyfriend.

Before she was able to move at all, both of Izuku's hands landed on her shoulders, pinning her in place. She could feel his breath against her ear as he spoke. "Tooru, I'll tell you in a second. But right now, I need you to hold as still as you can, ok?" She nodded shakily, tears welling in her eyes. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him lean back and pull off his left glove, then he knelt in front of her. "Now, you're going to want to bite down on this."

Tooru's eyes locked with Izuku's for a long moment. She could see the concern shrouding his features as he held out the glove. But behind the concern, she could see his unspoken promise, the shimmer in his eyes that told her everything would be ok. Finally, she nodded, allowing him to situate the glove in her mouth before she bit down on it.

"Young Sero, could you please use your quirk to rappel down here?" All Might called. "I'm going to need some of your tape in a moment. Also, Ms. Yaoyorozu, I'm going to need four stiff boards about this long." The hero held her hands about half a meter apart, indicating the length of the boards required, waiting for confirmation from the two students before kneeling by Tooru. "Now, Ms. Hagakure, I'm going to have to realign your leg. This may take a moment, and it will probably hurt, but I assure you that everything will be alright. Ready?"

She took a few shaky breaths then nodded, reaching out and gripping Izuku's hand tightly. A moment later, Tooru screamed through the glove in her mouth as white hot pain lanced up her leg. She could feel the bones in her calf shift beneath her skin as All Might did her best to line up the fracture as quickly as possible. After what felt like an eternity, the pain subsided slightly as the four boards Yaoyorozu had made were taped in place around the extremity, applying a light pressure to keep the fractured bones in place.

Finally, with everything in place, Tooru felt her body grow weightless as Ochako's quirk activated, first on the splint, then on her. All Might breathed out a sigh, then turned to face the students. "Well," she said with her trademark smile, "I think we can safely say this round is a draw."

* * *

Ochako fumbled with her phone as the infirmary door closed behind her, separating her from the now resting forms of Izuku and Tooru. "Ohhhh man," she muttered to herself, holding the device to her ear and listening to the dial tone. "I hope she doesn't freak out super bad."

"Hello. You've reached Midoriya Inko. Please le—" A sigh echoed in the empty hallway as the brunette ended the and hit redial, bringing the phone back to her ear. This time, Izuku's mother answered after the first ring. "Ochako?"

"Hey, Miss Midoriya." Ochako closed her eyes and leaned back against the wall. "I'm not catchin' you at a bad time, am I?"

"No, not at all, but what about you?" A hint of concern was audible in Inko's voice. "I thought school didn't get out for another hour or so..."

Ochako swallowed, doing her best to steady herself. "Um, that's part of why I'm callin'. See, Izuku and Tooru are both in the infirmary right now, since there was a bit of an accident during class. They're fine for the most part, but Recovery Girl wants them both to stay a while."

Inko's worry came through much more strongly when she replied. "Wait, you said they're in the infirmary? What happened to them?"

"We were doin' a trainin' exercise. I wasn't— I was watchin' through a monitor with the rest of the class, so I don't know what exactly happened. One kid shot out a laser that hit Tooru, and the next thing we knew, there was some kind of explosion and part of the building collapsed." There was a gasp from the other end of the phone, making Ochako realize just how bad her explanation made the situation sound. "I-it wasn't a huge collapse or anything. Just a small section of the floor under 'em a-and a bit of the ceiling." She wracked her brain, trying to piece together an explanation that wouldn't give the woman a heart attack. "Most of the injuries were little scrapes and bruises, but… Tooru's leg was broken, which is why Recovery Girl is having 'em stay."

"So, you're sure everything's ok?" the older Midoriya asked, relief creeping into her voice.

"Yep, I'm sure. They're both just restin' right now, after Recovery Girl used her quirk on 'em to fix 'em up."

Silence echoed from Inko's end for a long while, during which time Ochako's attention was caught by the approaching figure of Bakugou, who was carrying Izuku's bag along with his own. The sight caused her to mentally berate herself for not doing the same with Tooru's stuff. The blond boy gave her a brief nod before stepping past her and into the infirmary.

"Ochako, are you still there?" Inko's voice caused her to jump slightly.

"Y-yes, ma'am. I'm here"

"Oh good. I'm sending you Kaito's number, so you can pass the information on to him as well. I think he'd appreciate hearing this from you than getting my 'worried mom' version." Ochako couldn't help but chuckle at the passive attempt at humor. "And thank you for being the one to tell me. It's always comforting to know my boy has such good friends looking out for him."

A smile spread across the girls face from the woman's praise. The two exchanged a few more words, then bid each other farewell. Not long after the call ended, Ochako's phone buzzed in her hand, signaling the arrival of Mr. Hagakure's number. After taking a deep breath, she opened the message and readied herself for a second phone call.

* * *

Katsuki looked up briefly as Uraraka stepped back into the infirmary and shut the door quietly behind her before turning back to the math assignment he'd been working on. As an afterthought, he reached over and moved his backpack off the chair next to him and set it on the floor out of the way. The brunette muttered a "thank you" before occupying the now-open seat. A few minutes passed, the silence in the room broken only by the ticking of the clock on the wall and the scratching of Katsuki's pencil on paper.

"You told Auntie Inko?" the blond finally said after a while, still not looking up from his assignment. "How'd she take it?"

"Oh, uh," Uraraka obviously hadn't been expecting the sudden question. "Yeah. She seemed to take it pretty well. I did my best to reassure her that everythin' was alright, and she didn't freak out from what I heard."

The boy nodded slowly. "Well that's good. She has enough stress in her life as it is." From the corner of his eye, Katsuki saw the brunette raise an eyebrow slightly, but she said nothing.

Silence returned between the two as Kasuki finished his assignment then slid the paper carefully into his backpack. Once everything was situated, he leaned back in his chair, lacing his fingers behind his head and closing his eyes. A moment passed before he heard some shifting next to him.

"Today was... pretty scary, huh?" Uraraka's voice was small, shaking slightly. Katsuki cracked one eye open to see the girl hugging her legs to her chest, her chin resting on her knees as she stared straight ahead, looking at nothing in particular. Something in his gut screamed at him to keep his mouth shut, so he simply nodded in reply. "I mean, the first match went just fine. Only one who got hurt then was Tsuyu, and that was just a few bruises from fightin' Tokoyami."

"Yeah, Bird Brain sure did a number on Frogger there," Katsuki mumbled, gazing up at the ceiling.

"But then… it was Izuku and Tooru… and… and there was that explosion and…" She squeezed her eyes shut, tilting her head down and pressing her face against her arms. "I just… felt so helpless… Even when I went with All Might…" A single, choking sob echoed in the small room as Uraraka began to cry. "I-it was the w-worst feeling…"

"Yeah. It really is…" It was a feeling Katsuki knew all too well. He pulled his eyes downward, letting his gaze rest on the sleeping figure of Izuku. In an instant, he felt like he was four-years-old again, learning that his friend would never be able to see again. And knowing it was his fault.

With a great deal of effort, he pulled his mind back to the present. Uraraka's crying was now the only sound in the room, and the longer it went on, the more Katsuki felt obligated to try and comfort her. Needless to say, he was at a loss. 'I sure hope I'm doing this right.'

Uraraka flinched a little as Katsuki's arm draped over her shoulders lightly, and she turned her head towards him. His eyes were aimed straight at the floor, a near unreadable expression masking his features. A long moment passed between them as the brunette's sobs slowly faded before he finally spoke. "You know, I'm starting to think that feeling helpless is gonna be a big part of being a hero."

"You sound like you're talkin' from experience," Uraraka quipped in a poor attempt at humor, wiping a few lingering tears from her eyes.

Katsuki was silent for a while, then sighed and sat back up, gaze locked back on the green haired boy. "Yeah… Yeah, I guess I am." The girl's eyes went wide for a moment, but she said nothing. "I guess I'm also glad the shitty nerd has other friends finally."

A soft smile formed on the brunette's face. "You care about him a lot, don't you? Either that, or you don't feel like you're a good enough friend…" The smile evaporated from her features as Katsuki stiffened. "I-I'm sorry, I didn't—"

"No… You don't— Deku wouldn't have told you."

"Bakugou, what are you—"

"It's my fault!" Katsuki's raised voice echoed in the small room, yet thankfully was still not loud enough to wake the two sleeping students. He felt the tears pricking at the corners of his eyes as he pulled his hand from the girl's shoulder, straining to keep his emotions in check. "It's my goddamn fault he's blind, Round Face! How could I ever feel like a good enough friend after that?"

Uraraka's mouth hung open dumbly at the outburst. Seconds passed before she was able to form a reply. "What… what happened?" She reached out tentatively, resting a hand on the blond's shoulder, hoping to comfort him in some way.

He didn't know if it was the touch, the way she asked, or just the situation in general, but at that moment, Katsuki could feel his defenses fall apart. Everything came out at once; him pushing Deku in the river, the drive to the hospital, hearing the news of Izuku's condition. The more he told, the harder it became to stop, and soon he could feel his tears flowing freely. As he spoke, he felt Uraraka move closer, pulling him into her arm slightly, a gesture he did not resist.

The room fell into silence again as he finished speaking, this time lasting much longer than before. Finally, Uraraka spoke, her voice surprisingly steady. "Bakugou… I really think you're the best friend Izuku could have asked for. I know you feel guilty about what happened, but it really seems like you've done everythin' you can to make up for it."

As Katsuki opened his mouth to reply, Recovery Girl pushed her way into the room, eyes landing on the two students. "Now I'm sure you two want to stay until your friends wake up, but I'm going to have to ask you both to leave so Midoriya and Hagakure can rest properly."

The two slowly gathered their things and quickly left the infirmary, not wanting to incur the wrath of the diminutive heroine. Neither one spoke as they made their way through the now empty building and out into the fading sunlight.

"Ro— Uraraka." The use of her last name gave the girl pause and she stared at the boy as he kept walking ahead of her. "I'll walk you home."

A broad smile stretched across the brunette's features as she jogged lightly to catch up with the normally explosive boy. "I-I'd like that. Thanks, Bakugou."

His step faltered slightly before he grinned. "Just… call me Katsuki."

* * *

 **Whoo boy, pretty sure that could have gone a lot worse. Broken legs are bad and all, but with parts of a building collapsing, who knows what else could have happened.**

 **I hope you all enjoyed this recent series of updates. Next chapter we'll find out how the rest of the battle trials went (sorry they won't all be shown in great detail), and we'll see who the class president is going to be :) Thank you all for your continued support in all this. It really means a lot!**

 **Review answers:  
**

 **AkeenCarter - Yeah, I'm treating Aoyama's laser basically as a hardlight projection, since it has a level of force behind it when fired, but seems to penetrate rather than burn on impact.**

 **Kakerot Bardockson - Thankfully Tooru actually has a suit this time around, so she doesn't have to worry about Izuku seeing her nude all the time.**

 **C. - I'm really glad you're enjoying the dynamic here. Having a (basically) blank slate for cannon Hagakure has given me a lot of room to work with in developing her character. And there will definitely be more of her discovering/using her active refraction ability, though it will be a little slow to start.**

 **Thank you all again, and I'll see you next time!**


	23. The Bonds We Hold Most Dear

The shadows were lengthening as the pair shuffled their way out of the train, making their way through the small crowd of people that filled the station. Katsuki paused once he and Ochako had exited the throng and pulled his phone from his pocket. A scowl spread across his features as he opened what the brunette assumed was a message, an assumption that was confirmed as the boy tapped out a quick message before pocketing his phone again. She gave him a quizzical look, but he offered no explanation as he started off down the sidewalk.

"Th-thanks again for walkin' me home," Ochako started a little hesitantly, trying to fill the silence. "I'm really glad I don't have to walk alone, 'specially after…"

Katsuki nodded slowly, hands still shoved deep in his pockets. "I mean, it's not like it's out of my way or anything," he said with a huff. "Besides, you seemed pretty shaken up after the shit that went down in class today."

"Yeah, th-that…" her voice trailed off as she noticed where they were. "Um, I think it's faster if we cut through the park."

The boy looked around briefly before nodding and changing direction, slowing down slightly. Ochako let out a silent sigh of relief: the response from Katsuki showed that he understood her intentions. While cutting through the park wasn't entirely out of the way, it certainly wasn't a faster path to her apartment. What she really wanted was more time with company and less time alone.

Silence returned between the two teens as they made their way along the path that wound through the park. Yet again, Ochako watched her blond classmate pull out his phone and tap out a short message. She opened her mouth to ask him about it, but mere moments after he'd sent his text, Katsuki's phone buzzed loudly, signaling a reply. 'It's probably his parents wonderin' what's takin' so long,' she told herself, trying to suppress the feeling of irritation that was starting to build.

"You know, Ro— Uraraka…" Katsuki's voice caused her to start a bit, and she turned her head to look at him. He stuffed his phone into his back pocket before continuing, grinning at her slightly. "You're a really bad liar."

Ochako felt her face flush with equal parts embarrassment and frustration. "W-well, what was I supposed to say? 'Hey, let's take the long way, 'cause I don't wanna be alone right now'?"

"I mean, that certainly gets the message across." A groan escaped the brunette as she dropped her face into her hands, slowing to a stop. Katsuki let out a quick laugh, stopping a short distance ahead of her. "But it's not like you have anything to worry about on that end, especially since you're having dinner with us tonight."

Frustration and embarrassment gave way to shock as Katsuki's words registered with the girl. She looked up, eyes wide, mouth opening and closing dumbly as she searched for something to say. The response only caused the boy to laugh again and pull out his phone, waving it slightly in front of her. "Old man's orders. And I'm pretty sure the hag would kill me if you don't show up. So unless you want my death on your conscience…"

A stammered reply was all Ochako could muster as she hurried to catch up with her classmate.

* * *

"And that's that," Recovery Girl stated matter-of-factly once her lips had fully retracted. "As much as I'd prefer to have you stay a little while longer, your father was extremely insistent that he pick you up on his way home from work. That being the case, I was able to heal up all the backlash from your quirk, as well as the sunburn, but your leg still needs a little bit of work."

Tooru stifled a yawn, barely noticing as the elderly hero dropped a small handful of gummies into her palm. As she threw the candies into her mouth and started chewing, Recovery Girl pulled a medical boot out from under the bed and quickly secured the girl's leg inside it. "There's still a small fracture in your ankle, and another on the growth plate, along with a little bit of bone bruising along your shin. I'm going to be out of town tomorrow, so you'll need to avoid putting weight on your leg at least until Thursday when I can heal you again. Meanwhile, keep it elevated when you can and ice it if it hurts too much."

"Wait, you're gone tomorrow?" Izuku wondered aloud, voicing the question Tooru had been about to ask. "What's going on?"

The pro hero chuckled, waving a hand dismissively. "It's nothing too impressive. Remember, I may be old, but I'm still a pro hero. Even I get called out to help with missions every once in a while."

The look of absolute awe and wonder that sparkled in Izuku's eyes drew a small chuckle from the invisible girl. A small part of her was convinced that the fanboy side of her boyfriend would never go away, even after becoming a pro hero. It was a trait she couldn't help but admire.

Her thoughts were cut off by the sound of Recovery Girl clearing her throat, tapping the pair of crutches that were now in her hand on the ground impatiently. "You'd best get moving. Your father said he'd be here in about thirty minutes, and that was twenty minutes ago."

"R-right, sorry." Tooru pulled herself upright, leaning against Izuku's shoulder until she could get the crutches situated under her arms. "Th-thank you again."

A tired smile crossed the woman's features as she ushered them out the door, shutting it behind them before leading the way down the hallway and out of the main building. Once the trio had made it outside, the elderly hero bid the two teens farewell then made her way back inside, presumably to finish closing up the infirmary for the evening.

"You know," Tooru began, using her crutches to hop her way down the entry walkway towards the street. "My dad is probably gonna want to have a long talk with me once we get home."

Izuku grinned and nodded, pausing briefly to adjust both of their bags on his shoulders. "Well, you can't really blame him. I'd imagine any good parent would be concerned for their child's safety if they broke their leg on the second day of school, hero course or no."

"Yeah, I know that. I just… I really hope he doesn't freak out too much. It's not like injuries are going to be completely unavoidable." The green haired boy merely offered another nod in reply, so after a few seconds Tooru continued. "Also goes to show just how big of a gap there is between us and the pros."

"How do you mean?"

The metallic clacking of Tooru's crutches was the only sound for a few moments. "All Might reacted so quickly. You, me, Sero, Aoyama… we probably would have just been sitting there for a while, trying to figure out what to do. It only took her a minute at most to get to us with Ochako and Yaoyorozu."

Silence fell between the two teens again as they made it the last few feet to the benches by the street. Izuku set their bags down to the side while Tooru dropped herself onto the nearest bench, letting the crutches lean against the fence. A cool breeze rustled the leaves overhead, pulling a few loose. The invisible girl let out a long sigh, hunching forward and resting her elbows on her knees, rubbing her eyes tiredly with the heels of her palms.

She felt Izuku's hand rest on her back, his fingernails scratching lightly back and forth across her shoulder blades, drawing a soft hum of appreciation from the girl. The simple gesture had always been surprisingly soothing for the girl, and soon she found herself leaning against her boyfriend's side. After a short time of getting her back scratched, Tooru straightened up just enough to lay her head against Izuku's shoulders, and stayed there until the shine of headlights signaled her father's arrival.

* * *

Kaito stifled a yawn behind his hand as he shut his daughter's bedroom door behind him then shuffled into the kitchen, tiredly filling their kettle and setting it on the stovetop. With the day now coming to a close, it felt like the stresses of the day were finally taking their toll. Between his new training position at Misriah Support, his old friend, Higari, asking him to give a presentation to his class, and receiving the call from Uraraka about Tooru's injury, he was pleasantly surprised that he hadn't collapsed already.

His actions barely registered as he reached for the kettle, quickly filling it at the sink before setting it on the stove so the water could boil. With the water slowly warming, he retrieved a dishrag from one of the drawers by the sink, then pulled open the fridge to get the reusable ice pack that was the main reason he'd come to the kitchen. As an afterthought, Kaito pulled open the fridge and grabbed the last can of his favorite sparkling water, making a mental note to stop by the store on the way home from work to buy more.

The metallic _crack_ of his can opening echoed in the silent apartment, followed by a contented sigh as he took a sip of the cold beverage and leaned back against the counter. He allowed himself a brief moment to simply gaze up at the ceiling and letting his mind go blank before setting his drink down and finishing getting Tooru's tea ready. Soon, he found himself knocking on his daughter's door, balancing a tray bearing the fresh mug of tea, the ice pack, two small ibuprofen capsules and his own drink in one hand.

"It's open!"

The way his daughter perked up as he entered the small bedroom told him that she was smiling, and he couldn't help but smile in return. As he set the tray down on Tooru's nightstand, the girl moved herself closer to the wall and patted the newly opened space next to her. With a tired sigh Kaito took a seat on the mattress, reaching over and ruffling his daughter's hair tenderly.

"You're the best, you know that?" she said, picking up the mug and stirring the contents lightly.

Her father chuckled. "I figured you deserve a little pampering after everything that happened today." The man's back cracked loudly as he reached for the ice pack and turned to place it over his daughter's ankle. "Right there?"

Tooru rotated her leg slightly to ensure the ice pack was right where it needed to be. "You know I can do that myself, right?" she said teasingly.

"I'm well aware." With the ice situated, Kaito reached for his own drink and took another sip. Tooru made a noise of agitation as she, presumably, stuck her tongue out at him, causing him to chuckle again.

Silence fell between the two as they sipped their drinks, simply enjoying the time together. With how busy life had become recently, moments like this were few and far between, and Kaito wanted to savor each and every one.

"Thank you." Tooru's voice was quiet as she spoke, but it cut through the silence easily nonetheless. Her father raised an eyebrow, but didn't reply. "For… for not freaking out too badly."

A smile formed on the man's face. "Oh, don't worry. I did my fair share of freaking out. It just happened before I came to pick you up."

Tooru giggled lightly at his attempt at humor, setting her mug back on the tray. "Well, with how clean the car was, I can only assume it happened at work…" The tone of her voice shifted, indicating a wry grin. "You still have a job, right?"

He couldn't help but laugh, silently thankful he'd been able to finish his drink before she made that jab. "I do, I do. Some of the new guys might be reconsidering, though."

Father and daughter shared a long moment of laughter before the room fell silent again, broken only by the gentle hum of the air conditioning switching on. Kaito leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and rubbing his eyes briefly. "But more than anything, I'm just glad everything was ok. One of these days, I might be ok with you putting yourself in dangerous situations—it's what heroes do, anyway—but I guess today just isn't that day."

An invisible hand rested on his, giving a light squeeze before pulling away. "I know it's going to be dangerous," Tooru began, voice soft but steady. "I knew that when I applied to UA. But I also know I'm up for the challenge. The more I think about becoming a hero, the more _right_ it feels. It's like it's something I'm meant to do."

Kaito felt a swell of pride in his chest at the determination in his daughter's voice. Worried as he might be, he never once doubted his daughter. She'd proven over and over that once she set her mind to something, she would find a way to accomplish her goal, no matter how much work it'd take. With a warm smile on his face, he reached his arm around his daughter's shoulders, pulling her close. "And I promise I'll be rooting for you the whole way, my little ghost. I'd like to think I'm still your biggest fan, even with how much Izuku adores you."

Tooru pushed herself closer to her father, laying her head against his shoulder and taking a deep breath. "That really means a lot, daddy. And don't worry. I don't think Izuku's trying to compete with you or anything, so you've still got a chance."

The laughter of father and daughter echoed through the small room, and Kaito felt himself smile with more happiness than he'd felt a long time.

* * *

"So, do we just… push past them? Walk up and say 'excuse me'?"

"You'd probably have better luck getting by, especially with the boot and crutches."

Izuku and Tooru had slowed their pace as they neared the entrance to UA. The gate was currently being mobbed by what appeared to be a massive group of news reporters and journalists. Because of their distance, as well as the sheer number of voices, the blind boy was having a hard time figuring out what exactly they were asking the numerous students making their way onto the campus.

"Well, I guess it's time to put my cripple skills to the test," Tooru quipped to his side, a playful grin on her face. Izuku simply shook his head and smiled as well, following his girlfriend's lead.

Just as the two reached the entrance, a familiar, tired voice sounded from the other side of the gate. "Yes, I understand that you're trying to get first hand reports, but now is not the time. Especially since you're actively keeping students from arriving to class on time. Now, I'm going to ask you again to step aside so the students can come through, and I'll see if the principal will either come out here or send another faculty member to answer any questions."

One of the reporters, a younger lady with scales instead of skin, stammered out some semblance of a protest before finally backing down. The crowd backed away slightly from the gate and a pair of students who had previously been trapped in the mob scurried inside, muttering thanks to the person who'd spoken.

"Hagakure, Midoriya." Aizawa's voice greeted the teens as they stepped past the media and onto the school grounds. His expression was as bored and tired as always, though there was a not-so-subtle hint of agitation in his features this time. "Will you let the others know I'll be a little late to home room? I need to go tell Nedzu about this situation."

"Sure thing, Mr. Aizawa," Tooru replied cheerfully while Izuku nodded. The teacher inclined his head in thanks, then after a quick glance towards the invisible girl's leg, he headed off towards the side of the building.

Tooru again led the way, only having slight difficulty making it up the front steps as they followed the rest of the students arriving for the day into the main building. Once their stuff was secured in their lockers, they made their way down the hallway towards the elevators that would take them to the floor their classroom was on.

"Deku?" Kacchan's voice called from behind. "The hell? I thought you were spending the night here?"

The green-haired boy turned to face his friend, slowing his pace as he started walking backwards. "Yeah, that was the plan before Tooru's dad convinced Recovery Girl to discharge her early."

"How'd he convince her to let that happen? She seems like the type that'd lose her shit if someone tried to leave before she could fix them properly."

"Apparently, my dad's a really good negotiator," Tooru responded, leading the small group onto the now-open elevator. "Though come to think of it, he never did tell me exactly what he said that convinced her…"

Izuku chuckled lightly. "Yeah, he was definitely avoiding that question on the drive home. But speaking of yesterday, how'd you end up doing in the battle trial, Kacchan?"

Kacchan stiffend ever so slightly at Izuku's words before he replied. "It wasn't anything special."

"Who were you up against?" Tooru posed this question, letting the two boys leave the elevator first before taking up the rear. "And come to think of it, I don't even know who was on your team..."

"I was with the tail kid." Izuku struggled not to laugh as he could hear the tension building in Kacchan's voice. "We got paired up with that ponytail girl and Tentacles."

"Tentacles?" Tooru asked, face scrunched in confusion. "Who do—oh, you mean Shouji?"

The explosive boy shrugged, trying to feign indifference. "Could be. I don't remember his damn name."

It took all of Izuku's willpower not to openly laugh as he asked, "So… did you win?"

"I don't wanna talk about it?"

Tooru's snort echoed down the hallway. "Did you lose? Oh my God, you're pouting so hard right now!"

"I never said I lost!" Small explosions crackled in Kacchan's palm as he failed to keep his emotions in check. "Plus, it's not like you won your round."

The girl's laughter faltered only slightly as she leaned against the wall to catch her breath. "Yeah, but who else can say they used an invisibility quirk to almost blow up a building? Oh God, you should see your face!"

Izuku wanted so badly to laugh along with his girlfriend: the mix of embarrassment and anger on Kacchan's face, combined with the fact that he was trying hard to suppress all these emotions, made for a rather ridiculous expression. The last thing he wanted, however, was to hurt his friend's feelings. He knew Kacchan could take the laughter from Tooru—mockery was the core of their friendship—but he had a feeling that it would cut too deep coming from him. So he limited his reply to a knowing smile as he pushed open the door to their classroom, steeling himself for another day.

* * *

The sliding of the classroom door caught all of the students' attention, causing them all to go immediately silent as Aizawa stepped into the room. "I'm sorry I'm late," he began, a hint of agitation in his voice, "but it seems like the press have no plans of leaving anytime soon. But with that aside, we're going to be doing something a little different today. You all need to pick your class rep."

A collective sigh of relief swept through the class. Tooru knew the school was known for its unorthodox teaching methods, so hearing that they were going to do "something a little different" meant just about anything could happen. She, for one, was happy it only meant choosing a class representative.

Students immediately began vying for the position, stating various reasons why they—or someone else in a few cases—would be perfect for the job. Mina went on about how she'd make sure class would never be boring, then Satou brought up how he'd make every Friday a "sweets day" or something along those lines. Mineta muttered something about girls and short skirts, earning him a slap from Tsuyu's tongue.

After a minute or so, Iida stood up from his seat and did his best to get everyone's attention. "I believe it would be best if we put this to a vote."

"Like that'd work," Jirou scoffed, an unimpressed expression. "We barely even know each other, so most of us would just vote for ourselves."

Tsuyu ribbited lightly in reply. "But that's why it makes sense. If someone did get more votes, it means people trust them. Ribbit."

"We could make a rule that you can't vote for yourself," Ochako added from the back.

Iida turned towards the front of the room. "Mr. Aizawa, do you—"

"I don't care how you make your decision," the teacher interrupted, his voice muffled slightly by what Tooru could only assume was his ridiculous yellow sleeping bag. "Just get it done before the end of homeroom."

The bespectacled boy turned back towards his fellow peers. "Does anyone object to having a vote?" His question was met with silence as the rest of the class merely looked around or shook their heads. "Then in that case, I'll pass around a slip of paper to everyone. If only we had something to hold them all—"

As if on cue, Aizawa's hand reached up from behind the large table, placing what seemed to be a pet food bowl next to the teacher's podium. A few chuckles and giggles filled the room as Iida tore up a sheet of paper and began passing the slips around.

Tooru waited a solid ten or fifteen seconds before writing a name on her slip of paper, since there was very little doubt in her mind as to who she felt would make a good rep. A part of her wished she'd had more opportunity to get to know the other classmates, but she knew everyone else was facing the same dilemma. Now all she had to do was wait for someone else to put their vote in so she wouldn't have to go first.

She didn't have to wait long. The scraping sound of a chair being pushed back echoed in the quiet room, catching her attention. Tooru turned to see the quiet boy with white and red hair make his way to the front of the class and drop his vote in the small bowl. Yaoyorozu and Jirou both followed close behind. Within moments, the rest of the class made their way up to deposit their own slips of paper into the bowl.

"Mr. Aizawa," Iida called from next to his desk, still standing. "I believe that is everyone."

The teacher stood from behind the podium, quickly shedding is dull yellow sleeping bag as he did so. "Great, just in time, too. Let's get this over with." As he drew slips from the bowl, Aizawa scrawled the corresponding name on the blackboard, adding tally marks each time a name was repeated. After about a minute or so, all the votes had been counted; Tooru was more than a little surprised to see that she had actually received one of them.

"There you have it," Aizawa stated tiredly, dropping the chalk back on the tray and dusting off his hands. "Yaoyorozu, you're the class rep, and Midoriya is the vice rep. You've only got about 3 minutes left in class, so use the time how you want. Just... keep your voices down"

* * *

Izuku's mind was in a haze all the way until lunch time. A part of him felt bad for being mostly zoned out during his classes, but another part, a much larger part, was still reeling from the fact that he was now the class vice rep. Did he really deserve that recognition? He certainly didn't think so, especially since he couldn't think of anything he'd done that would make him stand out above his peers.

"At least I'm not the actual rep," he muttered to himself, stirring his food idly on his plate.

"I think you would have done just fine." The boy jumped slightly as Ochako's voice announced her presence. She took a seat directly across from him and gave him a smile. "Wouldn't've voted for you otherwise."

Izuku barely avoided choking on his food. "Y-you voted for _me?_ But why? Why me over anyone else?"

His friend shrugged, taking another bite of food. "I dunno. Guess I just figured you've got a good head on your shoulders, and you could probably be a really good leader if you tried."

"Geez, Ochako." Izuku jumped yet again as Tooru seemed to materialize next to the table. "Now I kinda wish I'd voted for Izuku, too. Imagine how much more flustered he'd be right now if he was the full-on rep."

The two girls laughed as Izuku dropped his head to the table, narrowly avoiding landing his face in his bowl. "Guys… no. I don't even want to think about that right now..."

"Wait a second." Ochako's face turned to one of confusion and she aimed her fork towards Tooru. "Who _did_ you vote for? I thought for sure it would have been Izuku."

The girl in question held up a finger as she finished her most recent bite of food. "I actually voted for Iida. Kinda figured Izuku wouldn't want the pressure of the role, and Iida just seemed like a good fit, you know?"

"I'm flattered that you think that way, Hagakure," Iida commented as he joined the small group at their table, causing Izuku to jump for a third time and choke loudly on his drink. "Though I do have to say, I feel like the outcome of the vote is the most agreeable. Yaoyorozu is definitely an intelligent girl, and Midoriya has an amazing talent for analysis. Personally, my vote was with you, Midoriya."

"But why?" Izuku groaned, lifting his head finally and massaging his temples. "Why me over someone like Asui or Yaoyorozu. Hell, Kacchan could have been a better choice."

"You think Explosion Boy would have been better than you?" The green-haired boy muttered a prayer of thanks that he'd heard Mina's approach. He didn't need any more scares today. "I mean, you've known him longer, but all I see is an angry pomeranian."

Tooru snorted loudly at the description, trying and, surprisingly, succeeding at holding her laughter back enough to not make a scene. Izuku couldn't help but laugh a little as well. "Yeah, I see what you mean there… He still got two votes, though, so that has to count for something."

Ashido opened her mouth to reply, but was quickly cut off by a loud alarm that easily drowned out the rest of the chatter in the cafeteria.

 _"_ _Security breach, level three. All students, please evacuate. Security breach, level three…_ _"_

The students in the cafeteria looked around frantically. Some of them headed straight for the doors, causing a chain reaction as the rest of the students soon followed. "Security level three?" Ochako asked. Izuku simply shrugged, just as lost as his friend.

"I believe it means someone unauthorized got through the school barrier." Iida's voice remained surprisingly calm, even as they were being jostled by the sheer number of students trying to force their way down the hallway as quickly as possible.

All of the noise and movement was quickly causing Izuku to become disoriented, only able to make out the voices and faces of those closest to him. He felt his shoulder come up against one of the windows lining the hallway. Tooru was shoved against him and he saw her turn to look through the glass. "Can you see anything?"

"It just looks like… like the press? The press broke in?"

An idea quickly formed in Izuku's mind at her words, something that he hoped would help to keep the panic levels from rising further. One for All burst to life inside him, which he channeled into his lungs, diaphragm, and throat in an attempt to amplify his voice. "Everybody!" The amplification didn't work quite as well as he'd hoped since his voice was slightly distorted, but his words were still significantly louder. "There's no reason to panic. It's just the press outside."

By some miracle, the growing panic and press of bodies began to subside as students passed the message along to those outside the range of his voice. Izuku and Tooru both breathed a sigh of relief, the latter patting her boyfriend on the back, a small grin crossing her features. "Still think you'd make a bad class rep?"

Izuku simply groaned, his head falling against the window.

* * *

 **Sorry about the wait for this one. Again. I just finished another college semester, and have been helping a friend get her feet wet writing fics.**

 **I also hope this doesn't feel like a bunch of mindless filler. My goal is to keep the flow of this story as organic as possible, specifically with regards to intercharacter relationships. But if you feel like it's really bogging things down, let me know. The last thing I want is to make this story drag on and be really boring.**

 **Anyway, I'm pretty sure most of you have a good idea of what's coming up next. USJ is gonna be pretty rough on these kids.**


	24. A Look into the Darkness

Nana groaned inwardly as she massaged her temples, elbows resting on her desk as she stared down at the stack of reports she still needed to grade. With the field trip coming up tomorrow—and with how the battle trial had gone—she'd decided to spend a few days going over basic rescue and recovery. Now, however, she was reevaluating some life choices.

"This is almost worse than all the paperwork I had to do as an intern at Lock Jaw's agency," the pro muttered to herself, scribbling a grade in the corner of the report she'd just finished before flipping to the next one. "At least I'm not filling out hundreds of legal forms."

A few minutes passed, the sound of the ticking clock filling the small office before the door creaked open. Nana looked up to see Vlad King cross the threshold, waving briefly in his direction as their gazes met. The blood hero returned the gesture, then made his way over towards his coworker. "Last minute prep for tomorrow?"

She shook her head. "Nah, just grading the reports I had the kids do. Nothing too big, just tedious."

Vlad chuckled, an odd grin forming on his face. "Well, hopefully they remember most of it. Tomorrow's supposed to be more of a walk through, but I'm pretty sure Thirteen has some exercises planned out regardless." He paused briefly as he took a seat at another desk. "I'm just glad Shouta's class gets to help iron out any kinks before my kids get in there."

"It's a wonder they don't just have both classes go at once. You'd think joint exercises would be a bigger thing, especially in year one."

"Yeah, I've wondered the same. But I've got some trouble kids on my end—one in particular—so it's probably for the best right now."

Nana couldn't help but laugh. She had a very good idea which student Vlad was referring to, but felt the matter was best left alone for now. "That does remind me; do you know if Aizawa is still here?"

"Pretty sure he is. He's probably asleep in the teacher's lounge."

"Good." The black-haired woman stood and stretched slightly, feeling her spine pop in a few places. "Figure it'd be a good idea to make sure he knows I'll be a little late tomorrow."

One of Vlad's eyebrows raised in surprise. "Call from your agency?"

"Yep. Pretty low-profile bust. Nothing too crazy, but it could take some time." She shouldered her bag, letting out a heavy sigh. "I just hope it doesn't mess up any of tomorrow's plans."

"Eh, it shouldn't matter too much. Being a few minutes late to a class never hurt anyone." The blood hero waved his hand dismissively, grinning in his own way.

Nana returned the grin, then bade the other teacher farewell before leaving the office and making her way towards the teacher's lounge.

* * *

"Hey, Tooru. Is he going to be ok?"

"Mina, if I had 50 yen for every time I've asked myself that…" The invisible girl shook her head as her green-haired boyfriend continued his muttering spree. He'd started as soon as they'd left their classroom and continued the entire way to the busses that would shuttle them to the Unforeseen Simulation Joint. The most impressive part was that he showed absolutely no sign of stopping. Mr. Aizawa had informed them that their class would be working with the Rescue Hero, Thirteen, in practicing some search and rescue exercises. This information, naturally, sent his inner hero fanboy into maximum overdrive.

"You know," the pink-haired girl mused, "I don't think I've seen him breathe in the past 5 minutes or so."

Izuku's mutters cut off abruptly, startling both girls as he replied. "I've been practicing circular breathing, so it can be kinda hard to notice. But don't worry; I was getting the oxygen I needed."

The three students gave a polite nod to Yaoyorozu as they entered the bus and made their way towards the back. Their class president was marking down each kid as they boarded, making sure everyone was accounted for before she joined the class herself. Lastly, Aizawa boarded the bus and called everyone to attention.

"Alright, listen up!" the tired looking man began, unrolling his sleeping bag on the front seat. "We've got about a 30 minute drive before we'll reach the USJ. Once we get there, Thirteen and I will give you a quick rundown of how the exercise will work and what groups you'll each be in. We're not exactly sure how late All Might will be, so we will be starting without her. Now, stay in your seats and try not to be too loud."

Not long after Mr. Aizawa settled into his seat, the bus pulled slowly out of the parking lot and began making its way down the road towards their destination. Idle chatter quickly filled the vehicle as the students began talking amongst themselves yet again.

"Hey, Hagakure." Tsuyu turned around in her seat to look back towards the invisible girl. "You never did get to finish explaining what happened on Tuesday."

"Seriously!" Kaminari called out from a few seats away, grabbing the attention of the rest of the class. "I thought we were gonna get to hear the story sooner!"

Tooru felt herself shrink a little under all the unexpected attention, glancing quickly at Izuku for support. "W-well, I'm not entirely sure either, but I have a theory. Aoyama—" the boy in question sat up straighter, "—your navel laser is basically concentrated light, right?"

"Oui. I designed this belt to help focus and control it."

"That pretty much confirms it, then." She bounced lightly in her seat to show that she was grinning. "My quirk isn't just plain invisibility. My cells actually refract light, which is what makes me see-through."

Kirishima spoke up from in front of Tsuyu. "Wait, if that's the case, shouldn't his laser have just… I dunno, passed through you?"

"No, I don't think it'd work quite like that," Izuku mused, eyes aimed at the floor. "The laser seems to act more like hardlight than anything. So part of it may pass through, but it'd still hit her like anyone else, if not a little less so."

Tooru couldn't help but giggle a little as she gripped her boyfriend's leg to keep him from rambling for too long. "To be honest, I had no idea what was gonna happen, so I just kinda braced myself for impact. Apparently, doing that caused my quirk to try and concentrate the light that was passing through me. But since I have no idea how to control it, everything just went crazy and I kinda...exploded."

Most of the class seemed satisfied with that answer and quickly turned back to their original conversations. Tsuyu, however, seemed to have more on her mind. "Speaking of quirks," she began, tapping her chin, "I still haven't been able to figure out yours, Midoriya."

"Well, its like I said in class the other day: it's a general enhancement quirk. Boosts my physical abilities and allows my senses to keep up. Nothing overly specially."

"But that still doesn't explain how you were able to face off with Hagakure."

Izuku couldn't help but chuckle lightly, shooting Tooru a glance. He paused for a moment, then sighed and turned back to the green haired girl, dropping his voice to barely a whisper. "Are you willing to keep a secret? I promise it's nothing bad or illegal." Tsuyu nodded slowly, her expression still unreadable. "I'm actually blind. The heightened senses from my quirk help me 'see' with sounds. Kind of like echolocation."

"Ah." The girl nodded again in understanding. "I had a feeling something like that was the case, ribbit. Can I ask why you want to keep that a secret?"

"Mostly just personal insecurity, I guess." He shrugged. "I know it's not going to stay a secret, but I'm just not ready to have that be public knowledge yet."

Tsuyu gave a reassuring smile, then turned back around and began talking to her seatmate, Tokoyami. Izuku gave Tooru's hand a light squeeze, and both remained relatively quiet for the remainder of the bus ride.

* * *

A broad smile crossed Izuku's features as he filed off the bus with the rest of his class. The windows on the bus were sealed closed, so he was the last one to actually see the massive structure in front of them. To the side, he barely registered Ashido and Kaminari complaining about the place being called the USJ, and that they thought the class was heading to Universal Studios Japan, not a training facility.

Mr. Aizawa led the class through the massive double doors and into the building. Upon breaching the threshold, Izuku stopped dead in his tracks, allowing himself to be all but dragged along by Tooru. He was not prepared for the immense size of this place. The entire class stood on what seemed to be a raised entry platform, judging by the set of stairs that lead downwards towards the center of the building. Beyond the stairs, there appeared to be something of a central plaza with a large, ornate fountain in the center. Aside from these details, everything else was nearly impossible to ascertain. There was the distinct roar of flames to his left and moving water to his right, but little else beyond those. He could almost swear there was rain falling near what must have been the back wall of the building.

"There's the flood zone—"

The voice caught the entire class by surprise. It certainly didn't belong to any of the teacher's they'd met so far. Izuku pulled his attention back from the enormity of the building as quickly found the speaker. He grinned uncontrollably.

"—The landslide zone—"

To his left, Ochako began to bounce up and down on the balls of her feet in excitement. "Oh my God, I have to be dreaming!"

"—The conflagration zone. Just about every disaster you can imagine, you'll find it here." From around a nearby pillar, out stepped the Space Hero, Thirteen, in their trademark space-age suit. Ochako all but cheered as the hero came fully into view, along with quite a few other members of the class. "So without further ado, welcome to the Unforeseen Simulation Joint."

"Oh my God I can't believe it's actually Thirteen!"

"Is that a real boat out there?"

"What's up with that closed off section in the back."

"Izuku, how much can you see."

The last voice cut through the rest of the chatter from the class, drawing the boy's attention to his girlfriend. He took two steps sideways and whispered in her ear. "I can't see much beyond the fountain down there. I can tell there's water to the right and fire to the left, but beyond that…"

"Is All Might coming?" Thirteen's voice was quiet, obviously intended only for Aizawa's ears, but Izuku could still make it out. "I thought she was scheduled to be here."

Aizawa moved closer to the Space Hero. "She's running a bit behind schedule. I got a text saying to expect her in fifteen to thirty minutes or so."

Thirteen nodded in understanding, then turned to face the class, calling them to attention. "Before we begin, I have one or two points I need to bring up." They paused. "Actually, maybe more than that. But anyways, most of you are familiar with my quirk, Black Hole, correct? It can suck up anything and everything, breaking it down into dust. Obviously, I primarily use this quirk to help people during disaster situations, but it is a power that can just as easily kill those I'm trying to help."

A chill swept through the class, students looking briefly at one another before turning back to the Space Hero. After a brief pause to let their words sink in, they continued. "It's quite likely that some of you have a similar power; one with a high potential for both good and bad. It's for this very reason that we have so many laws regarding the use of quirks. It doesn't take much for even the simplest of quirks to become a deadly weapon.

"Your last practical lesson involved direct combat, forcing you to use your power to both fight and defend. Today, we will be showing you how to turn those skills outwards and use them to save lives. As heroes, your powers are not meant to hurt others: you are meant to _help_ others. I hope this lesson today will help you all see that."

The hero took a bow as they finished their speech, drawing some applause from the students. To the side, Aizawa nodded tiredly before stepping forward. "So to get this show on the road, we're going t—"

Near the fountain, something seemed to shift. New sounds began to echo from the plaza, sounds that seemed as though they were from an entirely different place. Aizawa seemed to notice something was off, as whatever he was about to say died in his throat as he turned to investigate. His eye immediately went wide and he whipped his head back towards the class "Everyone, huddle up!" he yelled. Something in his tone chilled Izuku's blood.

Moments later, new shapes began filling the plaza. First a few, then dozens of people seemed to appear out of thin air inside the building. "Is… is this part of the lesson?" Kaminari's voice was shaky, as if he already knew the answer."

"No, it's not." Izuku watched as the underground hero raised his signature goggles up over his eyes. "These are villains."


	25. Dread Intrusion

He knew the facility was supposed to be large; they had studied the structure as much as they could before the assault, wanting to know how to best use it to their advantage. Yet none of their planning sessions had prepared him for the actual scope of the structure. It was nearly large enough to be considered its own city, complete with mountains, buildings, and even a lake. He couldn't help but feel a slight sense of awe at the amount of planning and labor that must have gone into its construction.

The crowd of villains continued to grow, filing through the swirling portal. They each had an intimidating enough presence alone, but it was the sheer numbers that truly was the most imposing. Especially considering that the twenty or so villains currently in the plaza was only about half of their full entourage, as the rest were currently entering through other portals scattered throughout the facility. A level of excitement washed through him as he watched the past few weeks of planning and preparation slowly begin to come together.

Sheer numbers wasn't their true advantage, however. He looked to the side briefly, watching as the lumbering monstrosity made its way through as well, silently admiring the creation. Whatever had once made the creature human was all but gone, removed to make room for the multitude of quirks that inhabited its mind. Speed enhancement, strength enhancement, impact reduction. Enough to rival All Might when she had been at her prime, and certainly more than enough to kill her in her now-weakened state.

His gaze returned to the plaza, taking a quick headcount before moving on to the small group on the upper entry platform. The figures were almost too far away for him to see any clear details, but their number was almost exactly what they expected. "Nineteen students, and two teachers." He narrowed his eyes, trying to get a better view. "Thirteen is here, as expected. And him there… that must be Eraser Head."

"I don't see _her_ , though…" the man to his side said, his tone a cross between agitation and boredom. "After we came all this way, the main boss doesn't even bother to show up." He began scratching at his neck for a moment before a wicked smile appeared around the disembodied hand that covered his face. "Maybe we have to trigger the encounter somehow. Lets see if a couple of dead kids will bring her out."

Kurogiri watched as Thirteen gestured towards the students, then saw the mass of kids begin to move back towards what must be the door to the facility. As the group started moving, the dark-clad figure raced its way down the massive set of stairs, directly towards their main group. He quickly determined that their entire party was inside the facility, nodded towards Tomura, then spiraled in on himself, activating his quirk.

"—o time for analysis! We have to evacuate!"

"I'm afraid I cannot allow that," Kurogiri began speaking as soon as he manifested in front of the group of teens, expanding his gaseous body to block their way. A look of fear and surprise swept across the students' faces, bringing a smile to his non-existent face. "Now, now, where are my manners? Greetings, students. We are the League of Villains. You must forgive our audacity, but we have come here today to end the life—" he paused for effect, "—of All Might, the so-called 'Symbol of Peace'."

The expression of the students quickly shifted to one of shock and terror, making Kurogiri chuckle darkly. To the side, Thirteen flicked open the cap of one gloved finger, but he made no acknowledgement of it. "We were told she would be here at this time, but it appears her schedule has changed. No matter… My role remains the same—"

Mid-sentence, two of the students lunged at him, one with red hair and a shark-toothed grin, the other with wild blond hair and large, grenade-like gauntlets. The first's fists passed harmlessly through him, but the second unleashed an explosion that was a little closer to his bracers than he'd have liked. As he pulled his body back together, he mentally chastised himself for being caught off guard like that, barely registering whatever taunt the two were throwing his way.

"My my, that was close. Students you may be, but you're still the cream of the crop." He began compressing his body, mentally selecting a handful of locations throughout the facility for his quirk.

"No!" Thirteen's voice rang out. "You two, get back!"

"Too late for that now," he chuckled, throwing his body around the mass of teenagers, activating his quirk at random. "Now, perish! Writhe in torment until you breathe your last!"

* * *

Another explosion caused the ground under Kirishima's feet to shake as Bakugou sent yet another villain flying. The redhead barely got his arms up in time as his current opponent, a large woman with what seemed to be a porcupine-like quirk, launched a volley of spines towards him.

"The hell is up with these guys?" Bakugou shouted in his usual tone. "It's like they have no idea how to fight at all."

Kirishima threw a jab towards the woman's sternum, then brought his free hand across in a heavy hook, connecting squarely with the side of her jaw and sending her sideways into the wall. He couldn't help but wince as her body went limp almost immediately on impact. Certain she wouldn't be a threat anytime soon, he turned to face his classmate. "I'm pretty sure they didn't know what any of our quirks were when that smoky guy teleported us. Besides, most of them don't seem to be much more than petty street thugs."

The blond boy cracked his knuckles and rolled his neck from side to side. "Well then, that just makes our job easier, I guess. We'll just have to work our way back to the plaza."

Just as Kirishima was about to reply, another villain came smashing through what remained of the ruined wall of the neighboring building. He and Bakugou instantly dropped into a combat stance, only to see that the newcomer was very much unconscious. Turning in the direction he'd come from, they were greeted by their bird-faced classmate, the black shape of his quirk still protruding from his chest as he waved silently towards the duo.

"Well, well," the redhead called, giving Tokoyami a toothy smile and thumbs up, "glad to finally see a friendly face around here."

"What the _hell_ is that supposed to mean, Shitty-Hair?"

Tokoyami stepped out into the open street, pulling his cloak closed as he did so. "Likewise, Kirishima, Bakugou. Looks like he was the last of them, at least for now."

"Did you have to fight anyone else?"

"Just one other, but her quirk wasn't exactly suited for combat. I believe she was sent more as support for this one."

"Ah, makes sense. We had our hands full. The three we had to take on were more combat types." Kirishima jerked his thumb over his shoulder approximately in the direction of the plaza. "We were about to get moving. You coming with us?"

Tokoyami gave a terse nod. "I don't see why not. There is always safety in numbers."

"Well, if you two are done making out already," Bakugou shouted, already making his way down the street, "you wanna start moving your asses?"

Kirishima didn't even try to suppress his grin as he began walking. "Aw, don't be like that, man! You know I'd never cheat on you. That just isn't manly."

Behind him, he heard Tokoyami mutter to himself, "What a mad banquet of darkness."

* * *

The blackness that had been surrounding him opened up, revealing a mountainside just a few meters below him. A moment later, Todoroki found himself falling alongside his green-clad classmate. Training kicked in, and he quickly dropped the temperature on his right side. The moment he made contact with the ground, he sent out a thin sheet of ice, creating something of a ramp in an attempt to break both his and Midoriya's fall. Both students had the wind knocked out of them, but the ice slide did help to prevent any excessive cuts or bruising.

Thankfully, the two weren't far from a level area, and they were able to recover quickly from the fall. Todoroki couldn't help but be somewhat impressed at how quickly Midoriya was able to get his feet back under him, a tell-tale sign that the green-haired boy had undergone some level of intensive training before coming to UA as well. Only, the boy hadn't just gotten back to his feet; he'd dropped into a fighting stance almost the moment he did so, emerald lightning arcing off of his frame.

Midoriya held up two fingers and pointed towards a good sized boulder a few meters away, then added a third finger, and pointed to a small outcropping of rocks near where their ledge sloped downwards. Todoroki quirked an eyebrow in reply, but began to make his way towards the outcropping, scanning the sides of the structure for signs of movement. "So, I'm guessing this is the landslide zone Thirteen mentioned," he remarked casually.

"Sure looks like it. Really puts us at a disadvantage, considering how your quirk works. Definitely would have been better if we were in the flood zone. All that water would've helped you a lot." Todoroki stumbled slightly, taken off-guard by his classmate's comment. When he looked over, however, Midoriya gave him a quick wink.

The two-toned boy realized what he was up to. Midoriya was trying to bait the villains, giving them false information about their respective quirks. "You're right," he replied, doing his best to play along. "I guess we're fortunate that smoky villain dropped us somewhere none of his allies were."

Sounds of movement came from behind the outcropping he'd been nearing, and on instinct he activated his quirk, dropping the temperature on his right side again and shifting his foot forward. A sheet of ice raced forward, coating the entirety of the structure in moments. Cries of surprise emanated from behind the stone formation, and Todoroki rushed to the side to ensure his attack had worked.

Sure enough, the three villains were frozen in place, ice coating them entirely from their feet to their shoulders. The boy let out a mirthless chuckle before turning to check on his classmate. As he stepped back into the clear area, he found Midoriya dragging the unconscious forms of the two villains that had been on his side out from behind the boulder. The green-haired boy then produced a bundle of rope from one of the various pouches on his belt, unwinding it in preparation for restraining the two villains.

"Here, let me." Todoroki pushed his right foot forward, sending a line of ice out towards the boulder. Shifting slightly, the ice then arched over the two villains, acting as a restraining band to hold them fast against the large rock.

Midoriya's eyes widened. "Holy crap, why didn't I ever think of that? You must have some incredible control over your ice to do something like that! How long did you train it? Did you think of that yourself or did someone give you the idea? Oh, I wish I had my note book right now…" The boy patted a few of the pouches around his waist before he seemed to come to his senses. "Dang it, I did it again, didn't I? Oh well. So, what's our next move?"

A bewildered expression formed on Todoroki's face as he tried to make sense of the stream of words that had just left his classmate's mouth. After a moment, he finally replied. "We should probably try and get some answers from these guys. The ones I took out are still awake."

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea."

The teens made their way back to the three conscious villains, who had stopped struggling against Todoroki's ice. As he studied the trio, he could tell they must have been sent to this region on purpose. One man had a reptilian-style mutation quirk, while the woman had what seemed to be stone spines protruding from her back and shoulders. The third villain had no obvious outward mutations, which could only mean he had some kind of transformation or emitter type quirk.

"So, any of you willing to talk?" the two-toned boy asked, doing his best to keep his expression blank. The three remained silent. One even went so far as to spit at the boys' feet.

"I thought we were dealing with adults here," Midoriya quipped, a grin painting his features. "Pretty sure they sent toddlers after us instead."

Todoroki simply shrugged in response, turning his attention back to the group and singling out the lizard man. "I'll bet you don't like the cold much, do you?" The man was visibly shivering, but he said nothing. The hero in training half-smiled, glancing back at his classmate briefly before turning his full attention on the villain. "How about you tell me how your little group thinks they can kill All Might, and I promise to heat you back up? How does that sound?"

Without even waiting for a reply, Todoroki took three long steps away from the group.

And his left side burst into flames.

* * *

"Where'd everyone go? What'd he do to them!?"

The pink-skinned girl was looking around frantically, apparently searching for some hint as to what had happened to the others. Only Thirteen and five students remained in the entryway as Kurogiri pulled his body back in.

The villain couldn't help but smile inwardly. "I can assure you, I did nothing more than transport your friends away from here. I have no intention to kill any of you students."

"You really think we'd believe you?" a boy in a black-and-yellow outfit shouted back, his confidence betrayed by the shaking in his voice. "Why would we trust anything you say after you break in here, trying to kill All Might?"

"Now, what could I possibly gain from lying to you about not killing your friends." He could feel a hint of annoyance creeping into his voice, and he had to remind himself that these were still kids. A self-righteous attitude was to be expected. "What if I told you I had indeed killed your peers, only to have my lie exposed sometime later by them surviving their respective encounters with the fodder we brought along with us? Would that not be less advantageous to me?"

At the edge of his vision, Kurogiri caught sight of Thirteen speaking to one of the other children—a boy in knight-like armor and glasses—in hushed tones. He made no move to interrupt whatever it was they were plotting, but he kept his attention focused in their direction. "No, child. Lying to you brings me no benefit. My only purpose is to prevent any unnecessary disruptions."

As he finished speaking, the boy in white armor dropped into a runner's stance, the sound of a revving engine emanating from him. This time, Kurogiri laughed loud and clear. "Really now? This is your plan? You really think this boy can run faster than I can teleport him?"

"Your quirk won't matter once I'm done with you!" There was a small metallic _pop_ as Thirteen flicked open one of their capped fingers and activated their quirk. Kurogiri instantly felt an immense tugging sensation as the edges of his body started being pulled towards the hero.

Just as he expected.

"I guess there is something to be said about the dangers of being a specialist." Kurogiri activated his quirk, turning the power of Thirteen's own quirk against them. The back of the hero's suit was torn into shreds before the larger of the remaining students, a big-lipped boy in a yellow outfit, pulled the space hero free. "If you only focus on disaster rescue, even the simplest of tricks will be effective against you in a fight."

"What are you doing?" the big-lipped boy shouted at his peer. "Thirteen told you to run! Why are you just standing there?"

The armored boy appeared to swear under his breath before he shot forward, smoke billowing from what appeared to be actual engines in his legs. "Oh, dear child. I don't think you understand how troublesome it would be for yo—"

Twin walls of flesh encompassed him, trapping his body and preventing him from activating his quirk effectively. "Dammit!" Kurogiri shouted, struggling against the student's grip. The trap couldn't have lasted longer than a few seconds, but by the time Kurogiri broke free, the armored student had exited the building and was likely dozens of meters away.

"You've lost." The many-armed boy leapt away from the villain, arms up in a fighting stance. "It's only a matter of time before the rest of the pros arrive now."

"I encourage you to hold on to that hope," Kurogiri growled, no longer trying to mask his anger. "It will make it so much sweeter to watch your world crumble when we kill the Symbol of Peace."

He activated his quirk, warping himself back down to the plaza to inform Shigaraki of this turn of events. In the brief moment of darkness, he vowed to never again underestimate any of these heroes in training.

* * *

 **Oh boy! USJ pt. 1 is done! Sorry about the double update. My computer was being stupid and wasn't letting me save anything on here for a while. Originally I was planning on just having the entirety of the USJ conflict in one big chapter, but seeing as my parents are trying to get my wife and I to come down to Utah for a few days, and with school starting again soon, I didn't want the delay to be too long. That said, pt. 2 is already in the works, and will be covering the rest of the conflict.**

 **Big shout out to my wife for her help with this chapter. I'm pretty sure most of these scenes would have turned out much worse were it not for her input and advice. Also, shout to my betas for fixing my problems and letting me bounce ideas off them at ungodly hours of the day.**


	26. This Is Our Land

Izuku dove to the side. His pulse roared in his ears as he attempted to avoid the boulder his opponent had just launched at him. At the last moment, he reached out and grabbed the stone slab, using its mass and momentum to alter his rotation and bring himself back to his feet. The maneuver worked—for the most part. He was able to bring his body back in line with the villain. His only problem was landing properly.

He stumbled as the villain lunged, trying desperately to regain his footing before the man reached him. At the last second, he amped up his output of One for All, focusing it into his arms as he pushed himself upwards. He felt the strain in his joints as his elbows snapped straight, launching himself up and over his opponent.

"Todoroki!" Izuku's body was running on pure instinct at this point, but his mind was still mostly clear. He knew that the moment gravity took over and he began to fall, the villain he was fighting would be waiting for him. That moment arrived. The wind around him slowed, then reversed as his body began to plummet downwards again. As he fell, he watched what could only be described as an ice slide form underneath him.

He impacted the slide, riding it down and away from the golem-like man just as his classmate appeared from around a rock formation. Izuku watched as the other boy lifted his left hand and felt a wave of heat that was accompanied by the unmistakable roar of flames. The villain lifted his stony arms to protect himself and backed away from the onslaught, obviously more annoyed than hurt by the fire. But it was enough.

Izuku kicked off of the ice wall, throwing himself into a spin before kicking one leg outwards, guiding his heel into the back of the villains head. The man fell forward, landing face-first on the stone ground.

The two students paused for a moment to catch their breath, giving each other a quick once over to make sure there were no major injuries. Certain his ally wasn't hurt, Izuku smiled. "Thanks for the quick save back there."

"Don't mention it," Todoroki responded flatly. "I had a feeling you were going to do something stupid like that anyway."

The green-haired boy merely shrugged, still grinning. "Well, it worked, so it couldn't have really been that stupid."

A huff was the only response he got from the hot-and-cold boy as they both turned in the direction of the plaza. "I think we'll be able to see the plaza once we get to the top of that next rise." Todoroki looked in the direction Izuku was pointing, then gave a brief nod before the two began walking again.

Silence fell between the two boys as they hiked up the small hill, broken only by the faint sounds of fighting in the distance. As they neared the top of the rise, those sounds seemed to cut off almost entirely. Izuku looked towards his classmate, but the other boy hadn't seemed to have noticed anything out of the ordinary.

A minute or so later, the students crested the small hill and made their way down the opposite side, arriving at the border of the landslide zone and the central plaza. The open area before them was littered with the bodies of incapacitated villains. Some of them seemed to be down due to injuries or capture tape, while others were entirely unconscious.

What unsettled Izuku the most was how the area was almost completely silent. Outside the groans of the various villains, only one voice was audible from the other side of the fountain, near the flood zone. As they drew nearer the image became clear to him, and he knew that it was an image that would forever be burned into his mind.

* * *

Habit was the only thing keeping Tooru's footsteps quiet as she crept through the plaza. Her heart was racing as she closed in on her target, one of the many villains Aizawa had tossed aside with his capture weapon. The woman was still dazed from the throw, but seemed more than able to rejoin the fight. After a steadying breath, the invisible girl lunged forward.

"Wha—" the villain cried out in surprise as her feet were swept out from under her, sending her toppling to the ground. Before the word was even fully formed, a pair of invisible arms wrapped themselves around her neck and head, cutting off her airflow. She struggled briefly for a moment before succumbing to unconsciousness.

Tooru let go of the villain and stood, quickly scanning the other forms nearby to make sure they were all out of the fight. Moments after Aizawa had leapt down the stairs to fight the main group of villains, she had followed suit; the last thing she wanted was to just sit back helplessly and watch. Besides, her quirk gave her the perfect opportunity to clean up after the hero, "finishing off" any villains that weren't down for the count. After watching her teacher fight, however, a part of her felt completely inadequate.

The man was a living whirlwind, seeming to dance between the massive group of villains. The capture weapon around his neck seemed almost to be a part of him, a fifth limb working in tandem with his arms and legs to devastate his opponents. Even with his disadvantage of having to essentially fight quirkless, Aizawa dispatched villain after villain with seemingly no difficulty at all.

The whole scene had filled Tooru with a sense of awe. She'd read plenty of stories about heroes taking down groups of villains, and had even seen a few hero fights in person, but none of them could really compare to what she was witnessing now. A large part of her felt like an idiot for even thinking there was something she could do to help.

She could see it, though. She'd seen it time and again during her training with Ms. Fushiki, and even more when sparring with Izuku on the beach: Mr. Aizawa was running out of steam. His movements were slowing down, allowing the villains to get closer and closer to him. His quirk was active less and less, and the times between each activation were getting longer. Everything was pointing to a bad end for this fight.

Movement to her side pulled her attention back to the main fight. The villain covered in hands—presumably the leader of this group—had joined in, but only for a moment. He staggered back after a blow to the jaw, but made no moves to follow up on… whatever he had done. Mr. Aizawa, however, seemed to be fighting more out of desperation than anything else now.

So she kept moving, finding fallen villains ready to rejoin the fight. Her heart raced as she saw one man begin to rise, pushing himself up into a sitting position, before leaning on one arm to get his feet under him. A quick sprint brought her within range, and she swung her leg in a smooth crescent motion. The kick brought her heel down into the man's temple, causing his head to slam into the hand he'd planted on the ground, knocking him out cold.

Mere seconds later, and nearly all of the villains were down. Tooru continued to skirt the edge, making sure no one was getting up anytime soon. Aizawa turned his attention back towards the hand-covered villain, who was back to standing near the black monstrosity.

The very next moment, terror like nothing the invisible girl had ever experienced gripped at her heart.

* * *

Time was running out. He knew he couldn't keep up this fight for too much longer. All he could hope was that Thirteen had been able to get the students out safely, or at least send someone for backup. Until then, his only option was to keep fighting.

A man with knife-like fingers lunged at his side, one hand outstretched. Aizawa jumped up, rotating as he tucked his legs underneath him while reaching out with his capture scarf. The material wrapped itself around the villain's arm and shoulder, tugging him to the side and into another villain who was just starting to sit up. Both fell in a heap, and the hero quickly turned his attention back towards the fountain.

One by one, the villains continued to throw themselves at him, never giving him more than a moment to rest. Everything became an adrenaline-fueled blur as he fell into a routine: nullify, incapacitate, release, repeat. His eyes burned, his limbs ached, but he continued to fight.

"Twenty-three seconds…" The hand-clad villain began to move, slowly at first, but quickly picking up speed. "Twenty-four seconds…"

"You're the leader, huh?" Aizawa launched his capture weapon towards the man, a baiting attack which he caught. No response came, only more counting. The hero rushed past a pair of knife-wielding villains, grabbing onto the capture weapon as he did so. With a single motion, he tugged hard on the material, pulling him and the silver-blue-haired man closer together, launching his elbow towards the man's sternum at the same time.

The blow never landed. At the last moment, the villain brought his left hand down and in, catching the hero's elbow. "I think I've got your moveset figured out, Eraser Head," the man said casually. "I couldn't see it at first, but your hair gives away when you're using your quirk."

Aizawa could barely hear what the man was saying as a blinding pain erupted in his elbow. Glancing down, he watched in horror as his skin began to crumble to dust beneath his opponent's touch. Frantically, he swung around, smashing his free fist into the side of the villain's jaw and pulling himself free. Thankfully, the villain made no move to pursue him, seeming content to sit back and continue watching from the sidelines beside the large creature.

In the corner of his vision, the hero saw one of the villains he'd fought off earlier begin to rise. He couldn't get a clear look, however, as he was soon rushed from both sides by a woman with insectine limbs and a man with odd, mouth-like appendages extending from his hands. Aizawa ducked below the woman's swing and threw his capture weapon around the man's waist and tugged, pulling him in. A quick roll had him moving between the two, causing both villains to collide with each other, dazing the woman and knocking the man out cold.

With only a brief moment of respite, Aizawa turned his attention towards the villain he'd seen rising earlier. At that moment, he watched the villain's head snap violently downward into his own hand, rendering him unconscious. There was a brief moment of confusion before Aizawa remembered what he'd seen during the entrance exam. The unseen attack could only have been performed by Hagakure, the invisible girl in his class.

"Even with your obvious disadvantage—" the pro hero whipped back around at the sound of the villain's voice, just in time to dodge a strike from the insect lady. "—you still jumped in head first, all to protect your students. So cool! So heroic!"

The taunting tone sent shivers down the underground hero's spine, even as he dispatched his opponent with a well-placed punch to the throat. "But there's something you need to know, Eraser Head. I'm not the main boss of this level."

Without warning, the black creature appeared before him, a massive wall of flesh and exposed musculature. The next thing Aizawa knew, pain lanced through his whole body as he was thrown face down into the concrete, head held in place under a massive hand. He felt his left arm get pulled behind his back at an awkward angle. "Say hello, Noumu."

There was a brief moment of pressure before he felt the bones in his forearm break with an audible _snap_! He didn't even realize that the piercing scream he heard wasn't his own.

* * *

"Dammit," Nana grumbled under her breath as she walked through the massive gate marking the edge of UA's campus. "Aizawa is going to give me an earful once I get there, I just know it."

Not only had her hideout raid taken a little longer than expected, it hadn't been until she was on her way to meet up with the class that she realized she'd forgotten all of her teaching materials. A part of her hoped her fellow teachers wouldn't give her too much grief about this blunder, but a much larger part knew it would be a while before they'd let her live it down.

As she made her way across the large courtyard, the faint sound of engines caught her attention. The thing that confused her the most, however, was the fact that the sound wasn't coming from the direction of the main road. She turned towards the sound, and the sight that met her was not quite what she'd been expecting.

Sunlight glinted off of Iida's snow-white armor as he sprinted down the pathway, slowing down only a few meters from the teacher. "Young Iida? What is—"

"All Might! Villains!" The boy gasped the words, coming to a full stop as he reached the stairs. "At the USJ! Villains… villains attacked us… I ran… to get help."

Nana's eyes went wide as she turned to fully face the boy. "Calm down, Iida. Start from the top. You said villains?"

A nod came from the bespectacled student as he tried to steady his breathing. "Y-yes. They warped into the USJ, dozens of them. Mr. Aizawa went to fight them. They… they said they'd come to kill you. Thirteen told me to run for help, but they got injured and most of the class was scattered. I got here as fast as I could..."

There was no mistaking the sheer panic in the boy's voice. His whole body was shaking, and Nana could even see a small stream of blood trickling from around the exhaust pipes in his legs. She did her best to keep her voice calm as she rested a hand on his shoulder. "You did the right thing, coming for help. I'll go on ahead and do what I can to help. Here—" she reached into her bag and pulled out her I.D. badge. "—take this up to the front desk. It'll let you access the phone to page the principal. He'll be able to take over from there.

Iida nodded shakily, then took the badge and staggered up the steps and into the school. Nana watched the door shut behind him before channeling One for All throughout her body and leaping in the direction the boy had come from. The ground cracked beneath her as she flew into the air, the force of her leap carrying her far down the road. A mix of panic and anger clawed at her as she pushed herself to go even faster. _Aizawa may be experienced, but if the group really is that large, he probably won't last too much longer. And if they're planning to kill me…_

The few minutes it took for Nana to reach the USJ felt like an eternity, but finally she could see the massive structure looming in front of her. She tugged at her quirk, concentrating her energy into her legs for yet another leap, this time aiming high at the roof of the structure. Once airborne, she unleashed a series of punches and kicks to direct her flight. Shattered glass filled the air as she crashed through the domed ceiling and into the USJ, landing heavily on the stairs. As she straightened up, however, a green-clad figure came hurtling towards her, slamming into the stairway just a few meters away from her.

Izuku's legs lay at unnatural angles, the bones clearly broken in multiple places. His left arm was similarly mangled, with a jagged white shard protruding from the green of his suit. Blood was beginning to pool around his still form, staining fabric and stone alike.

But Nana saw none of it. Emerald locks shifted to blond, the closed eyes became a piercing blue. The boy she saw was smiling, teeth tinted red from the blood he'd been choking on. It was the face that haunted her every nightmare.

"Not again… not again… not again not again not again…" with tears pricking at the corners of her eyes, she tore her gaze from the vision before her, turning in the direction the boy's body had come from. The hulking monstrosity stood a good distance away, it's beak-like face locked in an unnatural smile. Another figure appeared beside it, visible only to her. A man in a suit, with a smile that didn't reach his eyes. " _YOU!"_

Something _snapped_ in her mind, and her entire world faded to red.


	27. Difference for Darkness

Lights flashed all around, refracting through the massive glass dome of the USJ. Tooru's whole body felt numb, even as the telltale, post-adrenaline exhaustion began to set in. Habit alone kept her footsteps soundless as she made her way to the front door, following close behind the two EMT's and the shrouded body they carried between them. She slowed as they reached the entrance, her strength finally failing her as she gripped the door frame. Even as she dropped to her knees, she couldn't take her eyes off of the bloodstained sheet that covered her boyfriend's motionless frame.

Around her, the rest of her classmates fell silent, all eyes locked on the gurney as it was loaded into the back of the ambulance. A few muted exclamations of shock could be heard just before the vehicle's doors closed and the siren started back up. It wasn't until the ambulance had rounded a corner and disappeared from view that the conversations and interviews started back up.

"Hagakure?"

A gruff voice broke through the static in her mind, pulling her back to the present. The invisible girl let out a shaking breath as she looked around for the speaker. "I'm o— I'm over here," she called, voice breaking slightly. "Next to the door."

Bakugo made his way closer to her, holding a pair of familiar gloves, the ones Tooru would normally be wearing with her costume if she wasn't taking full advantage of her quirk. She pulled herself back up to her feet, legs shaking slightly as she took the gloves from the blond boy. "I'm pretty sure Round Face and Raccoon Eyes were looking for you," he started after a few moments, breaking the silence that had fallen between them. "You may want to go let them know you're—"

"Can you?" Tooru's voice shook as she spoke. "I just… I'm not ready…"

The boy hesitated, then nodded in understanding and turned to walk away. After taking just a few steps, he stopped. "Just don't go blaming yourself. Trust me when I say it'll only make things worse."

* * *

"You've certainly got an impressive group of kids, Eraser," Tsukauchi commented as he took a seat, setting his notepad beside him. "Seems like they all handled themselves quite well."

Aizawa nodded as he pushed himself upright with one arm. It hadn't been until the last of his students had been picked up by their parents that he allowed Recovery Girl to tend to his injuries. Even with his stubborn nature, he had finally admitted that allowing himself to rest and recover was the most logical course of action. "I'd be an idiot to disagree with you. They've got even more potential than I first thought."

The detective raised an eyebrow at the comment. However subtle, there was a hint of admiration and pride in the teacher's voice, something which Tsukauchi would have missed without his experience in reading into what people said. He smiled to himself, chuckling briefly. "I'm sure they won't disappoint you too much. But I'm sure you know I'm not just here to talk about your students."

"Yeah, I know how these things go," the hero replied. "At least you police officers are much more professional about getting statements than the damned press."

Another chuckle came from the detective as he picked his notepad up off of the chair next to him, then pulled a pen from his shirt pocket. "Well, it's our job to be as unbiased as possible. Especially in situations like this one, where we're technically dealing with a homicide."

After scribbling down the hero's name along with the day's date, Tsukauchi reached into his messenger bag and pulled out a small, handheld recorder. He then clicked the record button and placed the device on the small table at the foot of the bed. "So, since we've already received about 20 other statements regarding the events that took place today at the Unforeseen Simulation Joint, I don't think you'll need to give us an exact retelling of what happened. Instead, what can you tell me about the villains who managed to escape? I believe their names were—" he looked down at his notepad for a moment, "—Kurogiri and Shigaraki?"

The black-haired hero nodded. "Yeah, those were their names. Kurogiri seemed to have some kind of teleportation quirk, almost like his body could turn into portals. Something along those lines. His name should give you a good idea of what he looked like, since it's pretty spot on."

The sound of a pen on paper was the only noise in the small room for a brief moment. Then Tsukauchi looked up. "And what about Shigaraki? It seemed like your students didn't have much, if anything, to say about him."

"That's because he barely did anything. Probably a good thing, considering his quirk. Some kind of disintegration or decay effect." Aizawa paused for a moment, looking at his bandaged arms. "It seemed like he was the leader of the group, but I'm not too convinced. I can't shake the feeling that he wasn't the mastermind behind the attack."

That last comment took Tsukauchi off guard. He gave the hero a quizzical look. "What makes you think that?"

Aizawa sighed. "Like I said, it's just a feeling. He seemed almost… almost like a man-child. Like he was trying to be the leader, but would throw a tantrum if things went even a little wrong."

"Doesn't sound like someone who would plan a coordinated attack like this, let alone lead one." The detective flipped to a new page on his notepad. "Do you have any kind of description for what he looked like? Any distinguishing features."

"Aside from having silver-blue hair and awful posture, there wasn't much I could see that stands out. His face was covered by a disembodied hand. He also scratched at his neck quite a bit. Some kind of nervous tick, I assume."

Tsukauchi nodded. Some of the other students had described the hands. Tracking this so-called League of Villains certainly wasn't going to be an easy task, especially if Aizawa's feeling was correct, and there really was someone else behind all this. But that was a worry for another day.

"We'll certainly have to take that into consideration. If you do remember seeing anything else, please contact us as quickly as you can." The detective waited for the hero to nod in agreement before he continued. "Now, with those questions taken care of, we can move on to the main issue. What can you tell me about Noumu?"

The dark-haired hero seemed to ponder his reply. "Well, it was easily the strongest villain I've ever encountered. Even with my quirk activated, it was able to snap my arm with just one hand. Then there's the fact that it could move faster than I could see, so it probably had some kind of speed quirk." He paused for a moment. "I'm pretty sure Noumu doesn't qualify as human."

"And what makes you say that?" Tsukauchi didn't look up from his notepad. He had some idea as to what the hero was going to say.

"The only conclusion I can come to is that it had multiple quirks."

The detective's head snapped up. That certainly was not what he had expected to hear, let alone the fact that the comment held some ominous implications. "Have you ever seen that before?" he replied hesitantly. "Someone with multiple quirks?"

"Nothing like this," Aizawa replied, meeting the detective's eyes. "Usually, something that looks like a second quirk is just an aspect of the first. But speed, strength, _and_ shock absorption? There's...no other explanation."

"I-I see…" Tsukauchi made a quick note to contact All Might as soon as would be reasonable, considering her mental state after the attack. "That brings me to my next question regarding this issue; what would you say about All Might's actions in this altercation? Do you feel she was justified?"

A long silence followed the question. Aizawa's gaze shifted down to his bandages again, then he took a deep breath. "I don't feel that she was justified, but I also don't think she can be held at fault either." He paused, looking down at the recorder for a long moment, then back at the detective. Tsukauchi understood, and he reached across and switched off the device. "I'm almost certain that All Might can not be held responsible for her actions. I've seen her fight countless times, but this time was different. It seemed like… she had lost control."

Tsukauchi tapped his pen against his notepad, thinking. "Honestly, I figured something along those lines. I don't think there are any records, official or otherwise, of All Might killing someone on purpose. It's just too out-of-character for her…" He let out a sigh, leaning back in his chair. "Anything else you feel needs to be kept off the record, Eraser?"

Aizawa shook his head. "I just feel that the public wouldn't respond well to hearing about the 'Symbol of Peace' losing control. That could lead to a lot of issues for heroes as a whole."

"An understandable, and valid, concern." The recorder was switched back on. "Thank you for that input, Eraser Head. Obviously, this issue will need some further examination, but I believe you've given us some good insight into the situation. And now—" Tsukauchi stood, starting to collect his belongings, "—I believe I've overstayed my welcome. I'll leave you to your rest."

As he reached the door, he hesitated, hand resting on the handle. "And do try to not be too hard on those kids. They'll certainly need some time to recover from this as well."

The hero chuckled lightly, giving the detective a slight wave as he exited the room.

* * *

 _"—of the children was able to escape. It'll only be a matter of time before the pros show up."_

 _The hand covered villain growled softly, scratching at his neck. "Damnit! Damnit damnit! I swear if you weren't our ticket out of here, I'd reduce you to atoms!" Suddenly, his scratching stopped and he dropped his hands to his sides. The skin on his cheeks tensed as he smiled beneath his mask. "I guess we might as well leave a few corpses for them to find."_

 _With unnatural speed, the villain sprinted towards the edge of the lake, his hand reaching towards the brain-fried Kaminari. At the same moment, Tsuyu's tongue shot out towards his outstretched arm in an attempt to stop the attack._

 _All Tooru could do was watch._

 _The monstrosity that had been pinning Mr. Aizawa to the ground appeared at its master's side. Tsuyu's tongue was now firmly in its grasp, causing the frog girl to grimace slightly in pain. After a pause, the hand villain began to laugh, releasing his grip on the blond boy. "Oh my God! You really are just too cool, Eraser Head. Down for the count, and still trying to be a hero. So cool. So cool!" He turned to face the Hero, his gaze passing straight through the invisible girl. "Noumu. Kill him first."_

 _Everything happened at once. A massive black-and-red fist came rocketing towards her. A blur of green to her left erupted into motion. The sound of shattering glass filled the air. Before her mind had time to register what was going on, she found herself on her back, skidding across the floor. When she finally looked up, she saw All Might standing on the stairs, staring at the broken form of Izuku, lying just meters away._

 _An iron fist wrapped itself around Tooru's heart and_ pulled _. The very air around her turned to ice as she felt her breath tear free of her lungs. Tears began to flow freely, spilling down her face unseen. She began to crawl slowly towards the stairs, barely able to breathe as she did so. "No… Please, no…" Izuku wasn't moving. A small pool of blood had begun to form on the second step, gently trickling down onto the first. The invisible girl choked back a sob as she reached out towards his arm. "I-I-Izuku?" she choked out._

 _"Tooru? Ribbit, is that you?" She didn't turn towards her classmate. Her mind almost didn't register the fact that she'd been spoken to until a large hand met her back, then moved up to her shoulder. "Tooru, we need to move!"_

 _After a long pause, she nodded and staggered to her feet. "H-help me?"_

 _The frog girl simply nodded, extending her tongue carefully towards the green-haired boy and lifting him, keeping his head and left arm as steady as possible. Slowly, the group began to climb the stairs. It was all Tooru could do to look away from her boyfriend's body and focus on where she was putting her feet._

 _Her strength failed a handful of steps from the top, and she had to drag herself up the last little bit. Tsuyu gently laid Izuku down, following Tooru's voice to set his head on the invisible girl's lap. As the sounds of fighting echoed far below, Tooru leaned down and pressed her forehead against that of her boyfriend._

 _The tears began anew, streaming from her eyes. Sobs began to choke out of her, causing her form to shake as she rocked back and forth. With each shuddering breath, she whispered, "Please… please wake up, Izuku. Please… Please…"_

* * *

"...Please… Please wake up…"

The sound of her own voice pulled Tooru back to consciousness. Her grip tightened on her tear-stained pillow as she squeezed her eyes shut, trying against hope to dispel the nightmare. The moment her eyes closed, the image of Izuku's broken body filled her mind; limbs bent unnaturally, blood seeping from open wounds, staining his costume a brilliant crimson.

A choking sob ripped through her as she pried her eyes open. She buried her face into the pillow, soaking the fabric as tears flowed freely yet again. Her whole body shook as she cried full force. There was no telling how long she lay there, curled up under her blankets, pillow held in a death grip.

Finally, the tears slowed and her breaths began to even out. Tooru slowly relaxed her grip on her pillow, allowing herself to uncurl from the fetal position she'd been in. A soft buzzing and faint glow from her bedside table pulled her fully back to the present. With a shaking hand, she reached for her phone, unlocking it with a swipe of her thumb.

Only one notification was present, a text from the last person she had expected. The message was simple, but it sent a chill down her spine nonetheless

 _All Might (03:14): If you can, meet me at the beach tomorrow. I'll be there all evening, and there's something I need to tell you._

* * *

 **Sorry not sorry.**

 **I know this chapter is a little shorter, but I felt bad about taking so long to publish, so I decided to cut it here and save the next few sections for the next chapter. As usual, thank you all so much for your patience and continued support.**


	28. Enough Dead Heroes

In all the years Nana had lived, she had yet to find anything more soothing than the ocean. With every trouble that had arisen in her life, from confessing to a crush to losing loved ones, she was always able to find a level of peace in the rhythm of the waves. Today was no different. She'd only been there for an hour or so, and already she could feel the pain of the previous day beginning to fade.

A small smile formed on the hero's face as she closed her eyes, leaning her head back against the concrete wall. She could still clearly picture the piles of trash that once covered this beach, years of washed-up litter that had nearly ruined this place for her. Then she met Izuku, the quirkless boy who desperately wanted to be a hero in his own way. Her mind wandered to the day she had revealed her secret to the boy. She would never forget the look on his face when he realized that his dream of being a hero was finally within his grasp.

Quiet buzzing from her purse pulled her back to the present. With a sigh, she reached in a fished out her phone, flipping it open to read the newest message.

 _Hagakure Tooru (17:49): Hey All Might, it's Hagakure. I'm almost at the beach._

Nana tapped out a quick reply, explaining her exact location, before returning her phone to the purse. Less than a minute later, she could see a seemingly unoccupied set of clothes making their way down the stairs to the beach. She waved towards the invisible girl, wordlessly inviting her to take a seat next to her.

"Were you able to sleep at all last night?" the hero asked as Hagakure seated herself. The girl shook her head, indicated by the movement of her headband. "I can't blame you. Not after what you had to go through."

Silence fell between them for a long moment. Hagakure made no move to speak, so Nana decided to keep going. "You wanna know the hardest part about being a hero, at least to me? It's not the fighting or the rescuing. It's not the paperwork or dealing with government regulations or even working with other heroes you don't like. It's keeping up a facade. It's convincing people that you're stronger than anything the world can throw at you when all you want to do is lock yourself in a room and cry."

Nana leaned her head back, gazing up towards the clouds. "It does get easier, though. Kinda. It took me forever to accept the fact that I can't save everyone. The only thing I can actually do is give my all, all the time. That way, at the end of the day, I can honestly say I did everything I could."

"It's not always enough, is it…" It was more of a statement than a question. Hagakure pulled her legs to her chest, arms wrapped around her shins and her chin on her knees. "Even when you try your best…"

A tired sigh escaped the hero as she shook her head. "No. No it's not. Like I said, I can't save everyone. But once you realize that, you're faced with a choice. You can either admit defeat and give up, or you can push yourself to be even better. The top heroes you see today are the ones that chose the second route." She turned her gaze back towards the invisible girl, who seemed to have relaxed somewhat. "But that… that's not the reason I asked you to meet me."

Nana pushed herself to her feet, gesturing for the invisible girl to do the same, and began walking towards the south end of the beach. Hagakure kept pace, walking just slightly behind the pro hero. "How much do you remember about Izuku's quirk?"

"I, uh…" The girl obviously had not been expecting that question. "Well, he got it from you, right? And you got it from someone else… I don't remember if either of you told me how many people have had it."

"I'm pretty sure I hadn't, though I didn't know if Izuku had said anything to you about it." She stopped briefly, bending down to inspect a shell half buried in the sand. After a moment, though, she stood and continued walking. "I was number seven, ironically. And of the other wielders of this power, I have held it by far the longest."

Again, silence fell between the two as they walked, stopping a few more times before Nana finally found what she deemed a worthy shell. After a couple of minutes, Hagakure spoke up, a little frustrated. "Is that it? You asked me to come out here just to tell me that Izuku was number eight?"

" _Is_ number eight," the woman corrected. "I know things looked bad at the USJ, but you know as well as I do that he'll be fine. One for All makes its wielder surprisingly durable, plus he inherited some of my healing quirk. But no, there's much more to it than that. Besides, Izuku is actually the tenth, not the eighth."

The pair reached the small pier extending out over the south end of the beach. The space under the pier looked like it went from about three meters at the water's edge to just over half that height at the base of the retaining wall. Right where the gap between the beach and the pier would be almost too small to stand comfortably, the retaining wall had been extended about a meter. Even with the cross beams obstructing the view, Nana knew she would always see that addition with just the slightest glance.

Hagakure's pace had slowed considerably as she tried to make sense of Nana's words, and now she hurried to catch up. "Wait, but… If you're the seventh person to have One for All, how can Izuku be the tenth if you gave it to him? That just—that doesn't make any sense."

Nana turned towards the girl briefly, a soft smile on her face as she continued walking beneath the pier, back towards the city. The smile remained on the hero's face as she knelt down, placing the small shell she'd picked up at the base of the extended wall. "It shouldn't make any sense," she finally replied, still kneeling. Tears were already beginning to prick at the corners of her eyes. "You don't know that Izuku is the second person I've given this power to."

The hero fought down the tightness in her throat as she looked up towards the wall, eyes tracing the familiar kanji engraved in the concrete.

"In Memory of Yagi Toshinori: The Symbol of Peace."

* * *

"I met him about twenty years ago or so. Just a quirkless kid who wanted to be a hero. Wanted to make a difference in the world, even if it was a small one." All Might's voice seemed to echo from a distance as Tooru stared at the words carved into the wall. The hero chuckled quietly. "Sounds a little familiar, doesn't it?"

Emotions swirled within the invisible girl. Guilt and fear clashed with surprise and a desire to comfort, leaving her overwhelmed and, somehow, numb. She simply nodded mutely in response to the hero's words, unable to form a verbal response.

After a short pause, All Might kept talking. "Thing is, this kid wanted to be more than just a hero. He wanted to be a symbol, a beacon that everyone could look to for hope. And the more I talked to him, the more I was convinced he could be the one to do it. All he needed was a quirk. Plus, he'd already been doing a lot of strength and endurance training on his own, so I knew he could handle One for All." The woman looked down at her hands for a moment before wiping a tear from her eye. "He was killed barely a day after I gave it to him. Died right in my arms. There was nothing—nothing I could have done."

The words hit Tooru like a truck. Her mind was immediately thrown back to the previous day, holding Izuku's battered form in her lap until the EMTs arrived at the USJ. Even with his injuries, she could still feel the steady rhythm of his heart and the rise and fall of his chest. She knew he would live. All Might… she had watched her student die in front of her. The girl could only wonder at how much pain the woman next to her had felt on that day, let alone in the years since.

"He gave it back. Before he died, he gave One for All back to me. He'd barely had it a day, and that was enough to double its strength. Maybe even triple it. But… then he was gone. He and I met at this pier, and since he came here a lot, I figured this would be the best place…" Her voice trailed off as more tears began to stream down her wizened face.

"So… you made his dream your own. To honor his memory." Tooru's voice was little more than a whisper, but it echoed under the wooden walkway. The elderly woman nodded slowly. "How? How can you do that day after day?"

All Might took a long while to answer, breathing shakily as she wrestled with her emotions. "The smile I wear—it serves two purposes. First, to give a sense of comfort, to tell people that everything will be alright. But at the same time, its an attempt to convince myself that I am strong. Because if I'm just as scared as the people I'm trying to protect, how can I be the symbol of peace? How can I be the beacon that Toshi—that the world needs right now?"

Silence fell between them as the heroine forced herself to calm down. Finally, she turned towards the invisible girl, almost meeting her eyes exactly. The intensity of her gaze took Tooru by surprise. "But that's why I asked you to meet me. Not to lecture you or give you a history lesson. I need you to do me a favor. Since I lost Toshi, I've basically been alone. Sure, I have friends among the other pros, but I have no one close to me. But Izuku, he has you. He has his mother, yes, but she will never fully know what heroes go through. _You_ are his closest ally right now.

"And with the burden he bears wielding One for All, there will be times where he will _need_ you at his side." All Might reached out, taking Tooru's hands in both of hers. "So I am going to beg you to be there for him when those times come. Yes, I know the future is uncertain, especially with relationships at your age. But right now, and quite possibly in the near future, he will _need_ someone at his side, and who better than someone who loves him as deeply as you? So please, will you give him the advantage I never truly had?"

"I-I—" the pleading look in the older woman's eyes tugged at Tooru's heartstrings. Every word had rung true in the girl's heart. She took a steadying breath. "I'll do what I can."

* * *

The sunlight streaming through the window did nothing to lift Katsuki's mood as he stood in the small white room. By the far wall, his mother was doing her best to comfort Auntie Inko, who was currently crying in standard Midoriya fashion. Uraraka stood near the older women, her gaze shifting between the conversation and the boy sleeping peacefully on the bed.

Katsuki needed to leave. As much as he wanted to be there and support his friend, his emotions were quickly getting the better of him. Seeing Izuku lying in a hospital bed, covered in bandages…

He sent a quick text to his mom, saying that he wasn't feeling well, then slipped through the door as quietly as he could. Thankfully, Izuku's room was close to the ward entrance, so he didn't have a long way to walk to reach the elevator. As he neared the front reception area, he stopped in his tracks.

Near the opposite hallway, a doctor was speaking to a young couple in hushed tones. Katsuki was too far away to make out anything they were saying, but the look on the doctor's face and the posture of the couple made one thing abundantly clear. It wasn't good news.

The lump in his throat threatened to choke him as Katsuki nearly broke into a run. Thankfully, one of the elevators had just arrived on the floor, making it so he wouldn't have to wait and run the risk of having to share the space. A moment before the doors closed behind him, however, he heard a familiar voice calling his name, accompanied by hurried footsteps. Without thinking, he reached for the "door open" button and pressed it, only to feel the elevator begin to move at the same time.

Seconds later, Katsuki stepped out of the elevator just in time to see a slightly winded Uraraka round the corner. Their eyes met for a brief moment, and the blond could feel his defenses begin to crumble. He quickly turned away, motioning for the girl to follow him as he walked towards the entrance.

"Katsuki, are you—"

"It's the same hospital." Tears were beginning to form, and it took more energy than he'd ever admit to keep his voice steady. "It's the same damn hospital. And as soon as I saw him lying there, it was like I was reliving the day that he—when I—I just can't escape it."

The brunette said nothing for a long while, simply following along beside Katsuki as they made their way away from the building. After about a minute or two, she spoke up. "You know, I gotta ask, how come you still beat yourself up over that? I mean, that was what? Ten years ago? And Izuku's more than forgiven you—"

"Yeah, well… I guess I just can't seem to forgive myself?"

"Why not?"

Under other circumstances, Katsuki would have laughed at such an innocent and naive question. This time, however, the words hit him like a freight train. He opened his mouth, but any answer he might have given died before he could make a sound.

The girl continued speaking. "Look, I know it can be hard to forgive yourself sometimes, but the way I see it, you've got no reason to be angry with yourself. You look back at that accident, and all you see is your best friend going blind." Katsuki flinched at the words, but Uraraka wasn't done. "When you leave it at that, it sounds pretty depressin'. But look at where he is now! He can pretty much see better than any of us. He's got an amazin' quirk that makes his vision even better. And besides, do you think he'd have even met Tooru if he wasn't blind?"

His pace slowed as Uraraka's words sunk in. Why hadn't he ever noticed these outcomes? Sure, he had more or less accepted the fact that Deku was in the UA Heroics Program, and that All Might viewed him as a worthy successor. Somehow, he'd neglected to realize that by this point, Deku's blindness had become little more than a mild inconvenience. But could he ever truly let go of the guilt? Would he ever come to terms with the fact that his actions had forever altered the life of his best friend?

Tears welled up in the boy's eyes again, quickly threatening to spill over. "Damnit, Roun—Uraraka… I swear, you've seen me cry more than the old hag. And I don't like that I'm ok with that."

The brunette giggled, and for the first time in years, Katsuki actually believed everything would be ok.

* * *

Silence filled the hospital room as Izuku's nurse shut the door quietly behind him, bearing away the remains of the boy's dinner. The boy laid back against his stack of pillows, silently cursing himself for having slept through most of the day. A part of him wished he'd been awake when Kacchan and Ochako had been here, but from what his mom had told him, those two had only stayed for a few minutes.

He knew why. As much as he wished it wasn't the case, he knew Kacchan still hadn't forgiven himself, even after all these years. All he could do was hope that Ochako had been able to help in some way, and that someday his best friend could come to terms with what had happened.

A tired sigh escaped him as he reached for his phone and slid it open, pressing the notification key to hear what he'd missed while he'd been asleep. To his surprise, there were nearly two dozen texts waiting for him. Tears began to well up in his eyes as he listened to them one by one. Most were from classmates, with messages varying from "get well soon" to "don't be such an idiot next time." One message was from the school, informing him that his class was not expected to come in tomorrow, due to the events of the previous week. The final, and most recent messages were both from Tooru, asking what the hospital visiting hours were, followed by a "never mind".

With an ear-to-ear grin, Izuku wiped the last stray tears away with his hospital gown and set his phone back on the side table. Not two seconds after doing so, the door to his room slowly opened, revealing a face that caused his smile to widen even more.

"You know, if you'd been here just a few minutes earlier, I probably could have saved some of my din—"

Pain lanced through Izuku's still-healing limbs and torso as Tooru all but threw herself on top of him, burying her face into his shoulder and gripping the sheets. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry…" she murmured over and over, shoulders shaking as she began to cry.

"Tooru, what—what do you mean, you're sorry?" He reached across himself with his unbandaged left arm, laying his hand on the girl's back in what he hoped was a comforting manner. "What do you have to be sorry for?"

She sniffled, face still buried against him. "I-it's all my f-fault. If I hadn't been st-standing there, y-you wouldn't have had to s-save me. Y-you wouldn't—wouldn't have been hit…"

Izuku pulled her closer, rubbing between her shoulder blades. "No. No no no. It's not your fault at all. There's no way you could have known what was going to happen. You have nothing to blame yourself for." A grin formed on his face, and before he could stop himself, he added, "Besides, the punch was aimed at Mr. Aizawa. We both know I'd have been pushing him out of the way if you hadn't been there."

Somehow, Tooru apparently had the presence of mind not to hit Izuku in the chest, settling instead with punching him 'gently' in the shoulder. The quip did cause the girl to laugh slightly, a sound Izuku hadn't realized he'd been missing. Her breathing steadied and she wiped the last of her tears against her sleeve. "You're a real asshole, you know that?"

He couldn't help but chuckle, ignoring the ache from his ribs. With a smile on his face, he pressed his lips to the top of Tooru's head, closing his eyes and losing himself in the moment. "I'm just glad you're safe. Honestly, in that moment, nothing else mattered more than that."

The girl shook her head, pulling back to look him in the eyes. "Of everyone on this planet, I just had to fall in love with the one guy who has no sense of self-preservation. Just my luck."

Izuku simply grinned and shrugged as Tooru laid her head back on his shoulder. "As long as you realize that's a problem and try to fix it," she mumbled, "I think I can stand to be with you a little longer." He opened his mouth to reply, but the girl was having none of it. "No, don't say anything. We're cuddling now."

* * *

 **And with that, we have finished the USJ arc. Sorry not sorry about the overabundance of cliffhangers, but thank you for bearing with me through it all. If there are any loose ends you feel weren't answered well enough, please ask. It may be on purpose, but it also may be because I am bad at explaining things at times.**


	29. The Next Step

Kurogiri held back a tired sigh as he watched one of the bar stools crumble to dust. Without a word, he turned and added another tally to the monthly planned expenses list, silently hoping their benefactor's generosity would not run short. The man had always kept Kurogiri's bar stocked and furnished, but the portal user always felt hesitant asking him for funds.

It had been three days since their failed assault at UA, but Tomura Shigaraki was not one to cope well with defeat. "All of that work," the boy seethed, "the planning, the recruitment—it was all a waste! Over sixty members of our party wiped out, including our trump card, and all we were able to do was kill one goddamn kid!?"

Tomura grabbed the one remaining mug on the bar and flung it across the room, where it shattered against the far wall. As much as he was tempted to use his quirk to save the piece of glassware, Kurogiri knew the best course of action at this point was to let the boy's anger play out until he had either calmed down—

" _You truly feel all that effort was for nothing, Tomura?"_

—or wait for Master to make an appearance. Kurogiri felt a chill run through his core as the very air in the bar seemed to chill. While his tone was calm and even, there was no mistaking the air of authority that perpetually accompanied the man's voice.

"Master…" The boy's posture stiffened as he fought to keep his voice under control. "You told us she would be weak. You told us the low-level fodder would be enough to take out the kids. But none of it worked out like that. Were you planning for me to fail from the beginning?"

 _"Now why would I set you up for failure after investing the first and only functional noumu into this attack? What could I possibly seek to gain from that?"_ Even through the tv set, Master's agitation was clearly audible. Then he sighed, and his tone quickly changed to one of consolation. " _There was no way any of us could have known how the students would react in that situation, so I believed that the force you had gathered would be more than enough. As for All Might's power, well… it would seem that she never did have the chance to pass her quirk on to the boy before I killed him. I wonder if she's found a replacement yet…"_

The silence following Master's words felt almost oppressive. Tomura was obviously far from calm, and Kurogiri knew it wouldn't take much to set him into another tantrum. "If I may," he began, keeping his voice steady. "I believe it would be best for us to lay low for some time until we can make a name for ourselves. We would have a higher chance of success in a future assault with an organized force, rather than amassing an army of street thugs."

There was a flash of red as Tomura turned his gaze towards the portal user, a single eye glaring between the fingers of the hand over his face. Before the boy could speak, however, a chuckle emanated through the tv. _"You make an excellent point, Kurogiri. Remember, Tomura, that even in defeat, you can grow stronger. We have learned that a frontal assault is not the proper strategy. With this in mind, Kurogiri's proposition of a smaller, organized force does seem to be a promising alternative."_

For a long moment, the boy seemed to be at war with himself. His hands clenched and relaxed over and over until he finally stood and walked out of the room. Kurogiri sighed, watching Tomura leave before turning back to the tv. "I must apologize for Tomura's behavior, Master. He has been perpetually angry since our failure at UA."

 _"You have nothing to apologize for."_ Master's voice was calm and understanding, setting Kurogiri oddly at ease. _"I need to remind myself that he is still young and lacking in experience. It will be some time before he understands his role as a leader. Until then, you must continue to guide and counsel him, even in times like these. I trust you will continue to do so?"_

"Yes, Master. I will continue to do my duties to the best of my abilities."

* * *

"Midoriya, what the _hell_ do you mean by 'bones are just a resource'?"

"Ok, so you know how your body will burn fat reserves when you're exercising? Well, when the exercise is hero work, the fat reserves also include bones and muscles."

There was a brief pause before Tooru heard a dull _thwack_ from the other side of the infirmary door, followed by a yelp of pain. "I swear, you self-sacrificing types are going to be the death of me. Never taking your own well-being into consideration. And you know what? Just for that asinine comment, I'm going to let you spend one more day with that cast on your arm."

"Yeah...I guess I earned that one." It wasn't hard to imagine the goofy, sheepish grin on the boy's face that accompanied the reply. After a few moments, the door to the infirmary swung open, revealing Izuku and a very tired looking Recovery Girl.

Tooru gave the older hero an apologetic shrug. "Sorry about him. I'm trying to train him to take better care of himself."

"You're fine, deary," Recovery Girl chuckled, shaking her head. "Just as long as he knows he has no one else to blame but himself. But anyway, you two best run along to class before he says something else that'll make me hit him out of reflex."

The sheepish grin returned to the green-haired boy's face as Tooru bid the heroine farewell. She helped Izuku get his backpack situated, taking care not to mess up the straps of the sling that was holding his arm, then the pair made their way down the hallway towards their classroom. As they walked, she turned towards the boy, trying her best to hide her smile as she gave him an "I told you so" look.

"What?" he asked hesitantly, his own smile slowly forming.

"I told you you'd get hit if you said that," Tooru replied, the grin breaking through her facade.

Izuku laughed and shook his head. "Oh, I knew it was gonna happen. But the look of total confusion on her face—" he held up both hands, forming rings with his thumbs and forefingers, "—was absolutely priceless."

Any pretense of sternness was lost as the girl began to laugh along with her boyfriend. A part of her was glad she'd decided to wait in the hallway while Izuku was getting checked out by the nurse. She knew there was no way she'd have been able to keep a straight face. "You know, it's probably a good thing we're together. I'm pretty sure you'd have a hard time finding someone else who would put up with your antics."

"Nah, I'm pretty sure Kacchan would have seen it as his duty to put up with me, or something."

Tooru tried and failed to suppress the snort that escaped her, chuckling. "If I hadn't known any better, I'd have thought he was pining after you all through middle school." She paused for a moment. "Wait, he's not—Is he…?"

"Hell if I know." The green-haired boy shrugged. "I don't think I've ever heard him mention anything about romantic interests."

Silence fell between the couple as they walked the rest of the way to their classroom. The hallways were becoming more and more crowded as the first bell approached, and they found themselves almost running to avoid being late. As they neared the 1A door, however, they were greeted by a familiar figure approaching from the other direction.

"Ah, Midoriya. I was wondering if you were going to be here today." If Mr. Aizawa was surprised in any way to see the boy, his tired expression was doing a wonderful job of hiding it. "Now hurry up and take your seats. We've got a lot to cover today."

* * *

Izuku could hear a few of his classmates muttering speculations behind him as he made his way towards the teacher's lounge. Every other time All Might had wanted to speak to him, she had either simply texted him or waited until after school. The fact that she'd used Aizawa as a middle man this time had to mean it was something urgent.

 _But why? What could be so important?_

The teacher's lounge door was open when he arrived, and he could clearly make out the form of All Might sitting inside. "You, uh, wanted to see me?" he asked hesitantly as he entered, shutting the door behind him.

"Izuku. Yes, I did. Have a seat." The pro hero looked up from the cup of tea she'd been idly stirring with a smile and gestured towards the small chair on the opposite side of the table from where she sat. As he situated himself, All Might quickly poured a second cup of tea for the boy, sliding across the bowl of sugar as well. There was a long pause before either of them spoke again. "I...I wanted to apologize for not coming to visit while you were in the hospital. I know it's a poor excuse, but—"

"All Might, it's fine," Izuku replied, trying to stave off the unnecessary apology. "I figured you were busy with stuff. Besides, I was asleep most of the time, so even if you had visited I probably wouldn't have noticed."

A gentle laugh came from the woman as she shook her head. "Somehow, I knew you were going to say something like that. Guess I shouldn't be surprised, all things considered." She stared into her tea for a moment before asking, "Where do you feel you're at now with One for All?"

Izuku dug into his memories from the previous week, trying to recall what he'd been feeling while he and Todoroki were fighting off villains. "Well, for the entrance exam, I think I was going between ten and fifteen percent power. Didn't really get a chance to push it past that during the battle trial. Though I'm pretty sure I can push it up to twenty for a short time, maybe even twenty five…"

"I figured as much." All Might stroked her chin thoughtfully. "There's something about that fifteen-twenty mark that's tough to get past. It's almost like the power scale grows at an exponential rate after that. But that's something to worry about another day. At your current level of control, you should have more than enough strength to make a lasting impression in the upcoming sports festival."

There was no helping the smile that formed on the boy's face. The reminder that his wildest childhood dreams were about to come true caused his heart to race with excitement. "You…you really think I can win?"

The heroine smiled at her protege. "I think you certainly have a shot. There are some powerhouses this year, so you'll have your work cut out for you. But I have a feeling you're gonna make a splash somehow."

* * *

Tooru couldn't help but mutter a prayer of gratitude under her breath as the final bell rang. The last few hours of the day had felt like an eternity as her mind had become more and more occupied with the news of the upcoming sports festival. Excitement and nervousness had been welling up within her, and she was quite surprised that she hadn't needed to run to the bathroom to vomit.

As she began packing up her things, however, there was a surprised gasp from the classroom doorway, accompanied by a cacophony of muttered voices. Just outside the door was a mass of other students, all nearly climbing over each other to peer into their room.

"They're blocking the door?"

"What's going on?"

"Isn't it obvious?" The last voice belonged to Katsuki. The blond swung his bag onto one shoulder and made his way towards the door. "They're scoping out the competition, and wanted a look at the class that survived an actual villain attack."

"You're not wrong," one of the students in the crowd spoke up, a boy with disheveled violet hair and large bags under his eyes. "But I have to say, I'm a little underwhelmed at this. There are a lot of us in the general education course who couldn't quite make it into the hero program, and this sports festival is our second chance. Depending on how things go, the school might transfer us in, which means they'd have to make room… So, I guess you could also call this a declaration of war..."

The implications of what the boy said hung heavy over the class. Inside, Tooru could feel her insecurities begin to claw away at her. Before her mind was able to wander down that road, however, she felt Izuku's hand come to rest on her shoulder and squeeze softly. She looked up into his smiling face and could feel the shadows of her doubt fade once more.

 _I can do this_ , she reminded herself. _I know I may not win, but there's no way I'm going to lose._

* * *

 **Short little transition chapter here. Nothing too crazy.**

 **As usual, I have to give credit where it's due. "Bones are just a resource" was inspired by my coworker who uses similar lines when we're playing MTG. He's given me a lot of plot ideas for this story, one of which will be happening in a few chapters from here.**

 **Anyway, Sports Festival coming up. I hope y'all are ok with the changes that'll be happening. If not, too bad, they're happening anyway.**


	30. A Test of Wills

"Um, excuse me, Mr. Aizawa? Could I ask you something?"

There was something about invisibility Quirks that Aizawa had always found unsettling. Even after all his years of hero work, he wasn't sure if he'd ever get used to holding a conversation with what appeared to be a floating set of clothes. But since this particular floating set of clothes was a student he'd specifically requested to have in his class, he figured he'd just have to do his best. "Of course, Hagakure. What's on your mind?"

The girl seemed to fidget awkwardly as she stepped into the office. "Well, it's about the Sports Festival coming up. I'm… worried I won't be able to do as well as I really could."

"That's an understandable concern. The events generally cater more towards students with flashy, 'powerful' Quirks." Aizawa used air quotes to emphasize the word 'powerful' as he spoke, swiveling in his chair to face his student. "Honestly, if I were in your position, I wouldn't worry too much about this year's festival."

Hagakure shook her head, indicated by the moving headband. "Oh, no no. That's not what I was worried about; I figured that would be the case. I, uh… I'm more worried about… using my Quirk… fully…"

"I'm… not sure I follow. You shouldn't have too much of an issue using your Quirk, since it's on all the time."

"I mean, yeah… but we're not allowed to wear our costumes…"

Silence fell in the small office for a moment before Aizawa realized the implications of what had been said. Despite his best efforts, he could feel his face begin to flush. "Ah, I-I see. Yes, that could be a problem." He coughed lightly, turning back towards his computer monitor, searching for the file that outlined his students' costume designs and equipment. "Your, uh, costume. It doesn't have any—you don't use any support gear of any kind, do you?"

She shook her head again. "N-no. Nothing like that. The shoes are designed to make less noise, but besides that, the fabric just turns invisible when I wear it."

"I thought that was the case. Just wanted to make sure." The teacher found the file he was looking for, taking a moment to pull up the page for Hagakure's suit. As he was preparing the page to be printed off, there was a note that caught his eye. "You had this suit before coming to U.A., didn't you?"

"Yeah, I did." Hagakure seemed almost hesitant to admit it. "I always dreamed of having clothes that could turn invisible with me, and my dad got his company to make it for me as a birthday gift."

Aizawa cracked a faint smile. "I'll still have to run this by the principal, but I don't think there'd be anything wrong in letting you wear it during the festival. We should be able to get a definite answer by Monday at the latest. In the meantime, is there anything else I can help you with?"

"No, that was the only thing." The girl bounced on her toes lightly, obviously in higher spirits. "Thank you so much, Mr. Aizawa."

"It's my job to help where I can," he stated, standing and walking over to the printer. "I just expect you kids to make the effort to ask."

* * *

Music filled Katsuki's ears as he ran, the thudding of his feet against the treadmill matching the rhythm. He closed his eyes and let himself fall into the beat, allowing the world around him to fall away. The complex polyrhythms and driving guitars did wonders to calm his mind and help him focus, and with the Sports Festival right around the corner, this was a ritual he needed.

Ever since it first manifested, Katsuki knew his was a hero's Quirk. Everyone around him lauded his power, telling him over and over what a great hero he would become. The praise stuck with him, even at his young age, and made him all the more eager to live out his dreams.

After what had happened to Izuku, however, his view of his Quirk had shifted drastically. His young mind realized that the power he held wasn't just a tool at his disposal; it was a wild beast that could easily destroy everything, and everyone, around him. With this realization came a choice, one that would ultimately decide his path. His first choice was to fear his Quirk, to shun the power that it held. After all, it had completely altered the life of his best friend. What would it be capable of when he was older and could use more power?

That choice also meant giving up on his dream of becoming a hero, which was entirely unacceptable to the young boy. So he took the only other path available to him; tame the beast. He had to have absolute control over his Quirk if he ever wanted to fulfill his dream. With that goal in mind, he began to train. His father had even gone through the trouble of repurposing their basement into a workout area.

Katsuki slowed the treadmill to a walking pace for a few minutes before shutting the machine off completely. He wiped down his face and arms with a towel, then retrieved his water bottle from the corner of the room. A tired sigh escaped him as he sat and drank, letting his heart rate return to normal. Still, the anxiety of the past few weeks continued to eat at him.

Even with all the time he'd put in to his training, he knew he would have his work cut out for him with the upcoming Sports Festival. There were a few students in particular that he'd have to watch out for if he wanted to take first place. Deku was first on the list, with his growing mastery of All Might's Quirk. Since Katsuki hadn't had an opportunity to spar with his green-haired rival, he really had no idea how their powers would match up. His other big concern was Half-and-Half, since the boy obviously had formal combat training, judging by how much control he had over his own Quirk.

Beyond these two, Katsuki felt fairly confident in his ability to succeed. He had lost in the battle trial against Ponytail—as much as he hated to admit it—but knew he could win in a one-on-one setting. The other Heroics class was still a mystery, but that wasn't something he could afford to worry about. So all things considered, the blond knew he was ready to face whatever came his way.

Then he remembered _him_. The purple-haired, sleep-deprived gen-ed student. There was something about the boy that made Katsuki uneasy. Over the past two weeks, he'd seen the boy shooting glances at all of the Hero Course students, even going so far as to restate his "declaration of war" a few times. None of it had sounded like more than idle threats, but it made the blond suspicious.

He wouldn't have been so bold if he didn't think he had some kind of chance at winning, but there had to be some reason he hadn't made it into the Hero Course in the first place. All that came to mind was that there was something about the boy's Quirk that he thought made him unbeatable. _Pretty sure Deku would have an idea. Little shit can pinpoint a Quirk from miles away._

At the thought of the blind boy, Katsuki finally realized he'd been absently gnawing on his now-empty water bottle. The opening had become deformed to the point where the lid probably wouldn't screw on properly. He hissed in agitation and pulled himself to his feet, tossing the bottle in a nearby garbage can. Whatever that insomniac was planning couldn't be good, but it was a problem that had to wait for now.

Because tomorrow, he would be showing the world why he was the next number one.

* * *

"Midoriya."

The blind boy jumped a little at the sound of his name. He turned in his chair, shifting his attention towards the corner of the room where the call had come from. The boy seated there gestured for him to come closer, so he turned a brief glance towards Tooru and Mina, then made his way over to where Todoroki was sitting.

"T-Todoroki? What is it?"

Izuku's classmate closed his eyes for a moment. "I've never been good with subtlety, so I'll just come right out and ask: what's your connection with All Might?"

It was quite obvious that nearly half of the class was paying attention to them, so Izuku was very grateful to Todoroki for keeping his voice down. Still, the question was unexpected, so he found himself fumbling for an answer. "I don't—what do you mean?"

"Well, it's obvious she's got her eye on you, given how many times she's asked to have lunch with you over the past couple of days," Todoroki explained, still using hushed tones. "It's unusual for a hero of her level to show special interest in just one student."

"Oh, that." Izuku felt a little bit of tension subside. "No, I just had asked her for a few pointers. Her Quirk is pretty similar to mine, and I've been having some trouble recently…"

The dual-Quirked boy nodded slowly, though the look on his face still seemed a little doubtful. For a moment, Izuku held his breath, trying to think of some other cover story, but then Todoroki stood up. "I guess that makes sense. Part of me wants to think there's more to it than that, but I won't pry any further for now. Still—" his expression shifted, a sudden intensity filling his features. "—I don't plan on going easy on you today. In fact, I fully plan to beat you."

Silence filled the room behind them as Todoroki spoke, his voice now at normal volume. There were a few hushed comments from the other students, but Izuku was too preoccupied to catch them. He could feel his heart thumping in his chest as he met the taller boy's gaze.

"If you're trying to intimidate me, you're gonna have to do a lot better than that." He could feel a grin creep onto his face as he spoke. "I never took you for someone who'd hold back, especially after seeing you in training. Just know that I'm not going to hold back either. I fully intend to make it to the top."

"I figured you'd say something like that." A slight smile had made its way into Todoroki's expression, and it showed in his tone. The boy opened his mouth to say more, but at that moment, the bell over the door rang out, signalling the time for all the students to gather on the field.

* * *

A cacophony of boos and angry comments filled the stadium as Katsuki stepped down from the platform. The response didn't surprise him at all, given the nature of what he'd said. Had he remembered that he would be the one giving the athlete's oath, he probably would have had something more sportsmanlike to say. But since he had forgotten all about it up until Midnight made the announcement, he simply had said the first thing that came to mind.

Just as he rejoined the rest of his class, still trying to calm his nerves from being put on the spot, the R-Rated Hero's voice rang out over the noise. "Now, without any delay, let's get this show moving! This first event will divide the strong from the weak in a true test of endurance."

The monitor behind her came to life, showing a spinning wheel of characters, similar to a slot machine. The wheel slowed, finally coming to a full stop, revealing the nature of the first event of the Sports Festival.

"Obstacle race." The words echoed through the gathered group of students, and they all collectively turned to face the opposite direction.

"That's right!" Midnight cracked her whip for dramatic effect. "This race is a free-for-all between all the first-year classes. It's four kilometers from start to finish, and as long as you stay on the course, anything is permitted!"

An idea began to form in the blond boy's mind that caused the corners of his mouth to tug upwards in a slight grin. As the clock started to count down, he shoved his way through the crowd towards a familiar mop of unkempt purple hair. _Let's see how good your schemes really are, Bed Head._

A look of surprise covered the gen-ed student's face as Katsuki came face-to-face with him. "What are you—"

The starting bell rang out behind him, and Katsuki let loose with his Quirk, launching himself backwards towards the gate at high speed.

* * *

 **In case it wasn't already apparent, the Bakugou in this story isn't quite the same as canon Bakugou. This time around, he knows the dangers of his Quirk very well, and is trying his best to keep accidents from happening. This time, if someone gets hurt, you'll know it was on purpose lol.**

 **Also, apologies in advance, but the tournament is going to have a few more changes than I originally intended. Don't be surprised if the first two rounds are a little lacking, since they honestly won't change too much from canon, and I feel like they've been written to death in quite a few other fics.**


	31. Prima Victoria

Shouto could feel his ears pop as an explosion shook the ground beneath his feet. Thankfully, this wasn't the first time he'd felt the effects of Bakugou's Quirk, and he was easily able to maintain his footing as he sprinted through the small gateway. It only took him a few seconds to force his way through the majority of the crowd and into the narrow tunnel that led to the outside the stadium.

The moment he broke free of the crowd, Shoto reached out for the nearest wall and kicked his Quirk into gear. The temperature around the right side of his body dropped drastically, and a wave of ice rapidly grew to cover the floor and right wall of the tunnel. He couldn't help but smile as cries of despair and frustration echoed out behind him, before he altered the direction of his Quirk to help propel himself forward.

"YOU'LL HAVE TO DO BETTER THAN THAN, ICY-HOT!" Shouto stole a quick glance over his shoulder just in time to see Bakugou using his Quirk to fly over the rest of the students. For the most part, it looked like his entire class as avoided his ice trap. He'd expected as much, considering he'd used similar techniques during the mock battles and various training sessions they'd had over the few weeks of school.

 _"And just like that, Class 1-A has given themselves a massive lead in this race!"_ called Present Mic with his trademarked radio-host voice. _"A flashbang right at the start, followed by a devastating ice trap. We try our best not to play favorites here, but you can't help but respect a show of force like that, right Eraser?"_

Aizawa's voice sounded a little more tired than normal as he spoke up. _"I'd hardly call that a show of force. These were two students acting in a way that they felt would give them the best advantage over everyone else. The reason the rest of them weren't caught up in it all is all because of experience. They learned the hard way that if you don't react in time, you may not get a second chance."_

Sunlight assaulted the dual-Quirked boy as he exited the tunnel. Moments later, he was joined by Bakugou and Midoriya, with the rest of their classmates close behind. Shouto could feel his competitive nature kick into overdrive, and he sent a thin sheet of ice forward and to the side as he ran, attempting to cause the green-haired boy to lose his footing. Midoriya easily dodged the attack, grinning slyly at his classmate in response.

" _Your class may be good, Eraser, but let's see how they react to the first obstacle in this race!"_

Shouto rounded the first bend in the race and slowed his pace drastically. "Oh, you've got to be kidding me."

* * *

Shards of glass clattered on the floor as the cup in Tomura's hand shattered beneath his grip. Though it was mostly obscured, Kurogiri could see the mixture of emotions that were painted on the boy's face. Normally, his anger or frustration meant something, or someone, was getting disintegrated. If the emotion was strong enough, the boy would sometimes lock himself in a room for an extended period of time.

Yet, in all the years they'd worked together, Kurogiri had never seen Tomura break something out of anger without the aid of his Quirk. He could only assume that this was a new level of rage he'd never seen before. Not that he could blame the boy in this instance.

"How?" The word scraped its way past Tomura's gritted teeth. "How is that boy still alive?"

The face currently displayed on the TV monitor was one that Kurogiri thought he'd never see again. After all, the last time either of them had seen this boy, he had just taken the full force of Noumu's punch, one that was intended to kill a pro hero. Even if he had somehow survived the impact, there was no reasonable way he could have just won the first event of the U.A. Sports Festival. The man couldn't help but feel some sense of wonder in spite of his own rising anger.

 _"He is a monument to your failure."_ Master's voice resonated from the speakers of the older tv set in the corner of the room. _"A reminder of a past you wish to forget. Anger is completely justified."_

Tomura's jaw clenched behind the hand covering his face. He seemed completely oblivious to the various cuts now coating his palm as he growled. "But how? I need to know how he survived that!

"I believe," Kurogiri cut in, hoping to help defuse some of the boy's rising temper, "that we may get some answers as we continue watching his performance."

The tension in Tomura's jaw didn't lessen at all, but nonetheless he held his tongue, allowing silence to fill the bar yet again.

* * *

It took a moment for Tooru's eyes to adjust as she exited from the tunnel back into the stadium. She wasn't too surprised to have come in thirty-eighth place, but that didn't make it any less frustrating. Still, Present Mic had mentioned that the first forty-two finishers of the race would move on to the next round, so she didn't have too much room to complain. Especially considering how the beginning of the race had gone.

From what she could see, all of the Heroics students had made it into the top positions. The other two spots seemed to belong to the girl with pink hair and steampunk style goggles, who had been hot on Tooru's tail most of the race, and a kid that looked like a slim version of the radish spirit from Spirited Away. She could only guess that they were from the support and general courses respectively, but had no indication as to what their Quirks might be.

After another moment of surveying the rest of the competition, Tooru jogged over to where her class had gathered. There she found Izuku having a somewhat animated conversation with Bakugou and Ochako. Unsurprisingly, the former wasn't too happy about having come in third place.

"—you and Icy-Hot. I mean, _you_ I get, with that Quirk of yours, but how did the _human thermostat_ beat me?" Small explosions crackled in the blond's hands as he spoke.

Tooru couldn't help but laugh at the impromptu nickname for Todoroki as she joined the group, hugging Izuku briefly from behind. "Well, maybe if you hadn't lagged behind to flash-bang half the school, you could have come in second."

"Yeah, well—"" Bakugou started to reply before Midnight's voice rang out through the stadium.

"And there you have it! We've got our forty-two final contestants that will be moving on to the second round of this competition. For the rest of you who didn't make it, don't you worry. We've got two separate events for this second round, so just sit tight!"

The image on the monitor shifted again, displaying the wheel that had chosen the first event. Tooru could feel her heart begin to race as the wheel started spinning, becoming a blur of characters. "Round and round the roulette goes," Midnight sing-songed. "Where will it stop…?"

At a crack of the pro hero's whip, the wheel halted in its tracks, deciding the nature of the upcoming event. A collective murmur made its way through the crowd of students as well as the audience.

 _"A cavalry battle!"_ Midnight made her way to the edge of the stadium as Present Mic took over. _"The goal is simple, folks: get the most points! Each of our qualifiers has been assigned a point value, based on what place they achieved in the obstacle race. Number forty-two has five points, forty-one has ten points, and so on."_

The monitor shifted back to showing images of each of the contestants, ordered by their point value. Muttering erupted yet again, just as Present Mic continued speaking. _"But, as you can see, there's one exception. Our first place winner has a much higher point value: ten million!"_

Izuku's face visibly paled at the pro hero's words, and Tooru would have been surprised if there was a single set of eyes that wasn't currently trained on the green-haired boy. Some of the gathered contestants had even started whispering amongst themselves, presumably coming up with some preliminary plans.

" _Now, before everyone starts ganging up on poor Midoriya there, we need to tell you how this event actually works! First thing's first: this is a team event. All of you will need to get into groups of three or four, which will ultimately determine your team point value. Once you've got your teams assembled, you'll need to go over to our lovely Ms. Midnight, where you will be given a headband with your point value. Once we've reached that point, we'll explain the rest of the event."_

The crowd of students quickly erupted in conversation. Bakugou almost immediately left, yelling at Kirishima to be on his team. Ochako made a comment to Izuku about still being willing to be on his team, despite being an obvious target, something the boy seemed extremely grateful for. As he turned to Tooru, however, the invisible girl slowly shook her head. "Tooru, are you—"

"I'm sorry, Izuku," Tooru interrupted. "You know I love you, and as much as I'd love to be on your team—I need to prove that I can do this without your help." She gave her boyfriend a determined look. Besides, I don't think my Quirk would make a good combo with you and Ochako."

Izuku smiled and nodded in understanding. "I had a feeling you'd say something like that. Just promise that if you join up with Aoyama again, you won't go and blow up the whole stadium."

* * *

"I'm not crying! You're crying! I knew being on that kid's team was a bad idea!"

"We're both crying, Tetsu. Besides, we made it into the final round, didn't we? So it couldn't have been _that_ bad."

"Still, that Quirk needs a 'friendly fire' setting!"

Izuku did his best to hide his smile as he walked by Shiozaki and Tetsutetsu, the latter muttering to himself about how "onions aren't even shaped like that" as they headed towards the serving area. Present Mic had announced an hour-long lunch break at the conclusion of the cavalry battle, after which the brackets for the final tournament would be announced. After the stress and intensity of the past few hours, Izuku was more than grateful for the moment of respite.

It only took him a few moments to reach the prep room where he had left the bento his mother had packed for him. As he opened the door to the small room, he became immediately aware of the presence of one of his classmates. Todoroki looked up from his own meal as Izuku stepped through the door, obviously not expecting anyone to be joining him. "Midoriya? I thought you'd be eating with Hagakure and the others."

"Well, that's the plan, yeah," he responded, trying to remember which locker he'd stored his bag in. "I guess I'm just surprised you're in here all alone. I mean, I don't think I've ever seen you eat with anyone in the class at lunch before, so it's not that surprising, it's just a little unexpected, I guess. Am I rambling again? Because I feel like I'm rambling again."

"You're rambling again." The boy's voice was as blank as his expression, then a hint of a smile broke through. "I guess that's not too surprising, either."

Silence filled the small room as Izuku finally located his bag and lunch. Curiosity began to nag at him, however, and he turned back towards his classmate. "Todoroki? Why'd you call me out earlier?"

The other boy seemed confused for a moment. "Are you talking about the All Might thing?"

Izuku nodded, idly toying with the clasp on the box. "I'd be surprised if our whole class hasn't noticed by now, but you were the one who mentioned it. Why does it matter to you so much if All Might has an interest in me?"

Todoroki chewed his food for a long moment, pondering the question. To Izuku, it almost seemed like the boy was hesitant to answer. "I guess you might say it's personal," he finally replied, choosing his words carefully. "I assume you've heard of the Flame Hero: Endeavor."

"Yeah I do! He's the number—well, right now he's the number two hero, just behind All Might, but they've traded spots a lot over the past few years." Izuku had to struggle to rein in his excitement as he tried to figure out why his classmate would be bringing up the number-two hero. "Has he—is he training you or something?"

A light chuckle came from the boy at the table. "I can see why you'd assume that, given the conversation. He's actually my dad."

The green-haired boy nearly dropped his bento box as he moved to join Todoroki at the table. "He's your _dad?_ There have been tons of speculations about him being married, even theories as to who his wife is. But I don't think anyone even _suspects_ he may have a kid."

Todoroki tried his best to keep his face neutral, but the subtle look of amusement was obvious to Izuku. "Well, he has four. He'd like you to believe that I'm his third child, but I'm actually number four."

"That makes so much sense, considering how you already have a strong handle on your Quirk, not to mention your sparing skills. And I guess your mom has some kind of ice Quirk, yeah?"

"You figured that out pretty quick." The boy was outright grinning at this point, chuckling lightly as he spoke. "Yes, my mom has an ice Quirk, and a strong one at that. My other siblings inherited bits and pieces of my parents' Quirks, except for Touya; he only got dad's fire. When my Quirk manifested, dad realized it was a perfect split, so he and mom have been training me since."

"Is—Your mom isn't a hero, too, is she?"

Todoroki shook his head, "No, just a housewife with an ice Quirk. Apparently, she and my dad were middle school sweethearts or something. But we're getting off topic. The reason I asked about All Might's interest in you is because I'm basically Endeavor's protege; if All Might has taken you under her wing, you could almost say we're rivals by proxy."

After another long moment of silence, a smile returned to Izuku's face. "Well—" he began, pausing to gather his thoughts. "—I may not be All Might's protege, but I'll always welcome another rival. Besides, you can never have enough motivation to reach for the top."

The taller boy grinned in response. "I like the way you think, Midoriya. Now, you should probably head back to the rest of the class before your girlfriend gets jealous."

* * *

 _"What is up, listeners? I hope everyone is enjoying the break, because we are almost ready to get this show on the road!"_

The noise of the audience slowly began to settle as the speakers came back to life. Most of the students had finished their meals and migrated to their designated spectator areas, which were mostly divided by class. Tooru, for the most part, had been unconsciously gripping Izuku's hand the entire time out of nervousness. _"Let's throw that bracket up on the big screen! Contestants, here are your matchups!"_

Tooru's heart rate picked back up as she stared up at the display, her jaw falling open slightly. "I-I'm first? W-why do I have to go first?"

 _"Our first match of this tournament will be starting in about fifteen minutes! Hagakure Tooru and Tamanegi Siegward, head on down to prep room's A and B respectively! Tokoyami Fumikage and Yaoyorozu Momo, you two are on deck!"_

It took a long moment before Tooru was able to pull her eyes away from the screen. From her side, Izuku gave her a slight nudge to get her attention. She felt herself begin to squeeze his hand even harder and had to make a conscious effort to relax her grip. "Do you want me to walk down with you?" he asked, a soft smile on his face. She nodded mutely, then stood and followed him back out into the large hallway, barely hearing any of the cheers and well-wishes of her classmates.

Neither spoke as they made their way down the empty hallways. Tooru took full advantage of the solitude, leaning her head against Izuku's shoulder as they walked. The green-haired boy laid his arm over her shoulders in a comforting gesture, one she welcomed with silent gratitude. It wasn't until they reached the sign for the prep room that the invisible girl remembered why she needed comforting in the first place.

"Izuku?" Her voice felt distant, almost disconnected. "Can—can you give me a hug before you head back?"

The boy simply smiled before pulling her close, one hand pressed against her back, the other lightly holding her head. Tooru wrapped her arms around his torso and laid her head against his chest, holding herself against him. The steady drumming of his heart filled her mind, sending her back to an empty rooftop beneath a star-filled sky. In that moment, she didn't care that she was about to walk out in front of thousands of people. She didn't care that she was about to fight another student. All that mattered was him.

"You'll do great out there, Tooru," Izuku muttered, scratching her back in a slow, light circle. "You've got the whole class cheering for you."

Tooru smiled softly before reluctantly pulling away from the embrace. "Here's hoping I don't make a fool of myself against radish guy."

Confusion showed on the boy's face. "Radish? His quirk seemed more onion-related."

"No, I mean his looks. His face looks like the radish spirit from Spirited Away. And now I realize you've probably never seen that movie…"

The comment drew a chuckle from Izuku. "Yeah, there are a lot of movies I haven't seen. I'll need to catch up one of these days." His chuckle broke into outright laughter as Tooru punched him in the arm, a broad smile showing on her own face. "I think I need to head back so you can have some prep time. You gonna be ok?"

"I should be fine now. Thank you for everything." In a quick motion, Tooru rose up on the balls of her feet and planted a quick peck on the boy's cheek, then turned and headed the rest of the way towards the prep room.

* * *

Tooru closed her eyes, taking a deep, steadying breath as she stood in the small tunnel that led onto the field. A small amount of adrenaline was already leaking into her system, and a large part of her just wanted to get the round started. After what seemed like an eternity, Present Mic's voice sounded yet again through the speakers.

 _"Listeners young and old, it's the moment you've been waiting for: the start of the First- Year Stage Tournament! Our first matchup of the afternoon is on deck, and I for one cannot wait to see how this one goes!"_ Whistles and shouts of excitement echoed through the stadium, making Tooru's heart race with anticipation. _"Coming from the A gate, we've got the Invisible Mistress of Mystery from class 1-A: Hagakure Tooru!"_

A roar of applause and cheers followed Tooru as she jogged out across the grass towards the concrete arena situated in the middle of the field. Myriad voices echoed her name, and she turned a slow circle, waving in response. She could only hope they would notice the movement of her sleeves, since she had neglected to wear her regular wristbands.

Mic's voice started up again just as she reached the arena. _"And coming from the B gate, this general studies student sure left a lasting impression during the cavalry battle, the Onion Man: Tamanegi Siegward!"_

Though the cheers for the other student weren't quite as loud as they had been for Tooru, they still easily filled the stadium and drew a smile from the odd-looking boy. The two locked eyes from across the arena and he gave a slight nod. Tooru replied with a half bow, straightening up quickly as Midnight stepped up onto the platform beside the arena.

"Here are the rules for this tournament," the R-Rated hero called out, her voice amplified by the mic attached to her suit's collar. "You win if your opponent is knocked out of bounds, immobilized, or if they surrender. We've got Recovery Girl on standby, so you can use just about as much force as you need to, so long as you don't kill each other. Any questions?"

"Nope," Tooru replied, pulling the top of her tracksuit up over her head and tossing it aside. Tamanegi seemed a little dumbfounded that his opponent appeared to be stripping in front of him, and needed a second prompting from Midnight before he responded in kind.

The pro hero raised her whip. "Contestants ready?"

"Ready!"

"Ready."

The whip crack echoed through the stadium, and Tooru immediately took off at a dead sprint, angling towards her left. Just as she moved, the odd appendages on Tamanegi's face rose, spraying out a fine mist in a cone in front of him. Tooru held her breath and squeezed her eyes shut as she dove into a roll, not wanting a second encounter with the boy's strange Quirk.

As soon as her roll ended, she planted her hands and left foot, using her remaining momentum to bring her right leg around in a sweep. Her calf impacted the front of the boy's ankles hard, taking his feet out from under him and dropping him to his knees. He threw a wild punch out to the side, one which Tooru dodged as she kicked off from her left foot. Tamanegi's outstretched arm gave her an opening, and within moments, she had her right arm under his, her hand against the back of his neck, while her left arm snaked across his throat in a chokehold.

Tamanegi struggled against her hold for a few moments before slapping the ground hard with his free hand. "Yield! I yield!" Tooru released her grip, rolling backwards over one shoulder and onto her feet as Midnight raised her whip.

"Tamanegi admits defeat. Hagakure advances to the next round!" She couldn't help but smile as the stadium erupted in applause. A few people even went as far as to chant her name.

" _I guess we're going to have to use thermal imaging for her next round, because I wish I knew what happened there!"_ There was almost a hint of agitation in Present Mic's voice, but it disappeared so quickly that Tooru was certain she was simply imagining it. _"Hagakure took that win in record time and advances to the quarter-finals! "_

Cheers continued to echo through the stadium as Tooru made her way back to the edge of the arena to retrieve her tracksuit. Just as she finished pulling the pants up and over her bodysuit, a voice called out to her from behind.

"Hey, Hagakure." She turned to see Tamanegi, his face wrinkled in what she could only assume was a smile. "Good luck for the rest of the tournament. That Quirk of yours makes fighting you a real pain."

Tooru laughed and took his outstretched hand for a brief shake. "It certainly gave me a bit of an advantage there. I didn't choke you too hard, did I?"

The boy shook his head. "It was nothing I couldn't handle. Though you had me pinned pretty good. That was a clean win on your part."

"I'm just glad I can still see with my eyes closed. Your Quirk can be a pain to deal with in its own right."

The two shook hands one last time before Tamanegi bid Tooru farewell and made his way back across the arena to his entry gate. With a smile on her face, she tugged on the top of her tracksuit and began the long walk back towards the rest of class 1-A.

* * *

 **So, uh, yeah. On to the tournament.**

 **A few quick explanations: First, no. Shinsou did not make it through the obstacle race. Blown eardrums really mess up equilibrium and make it near impossible to run. Plus, I really don't like the idea that a group of people carrying someone could outrun a single person running on their own. However, I don't plan to leave him out of the story entirely. I have other plans for getting him into the hero course eventually.**

 **Next is Tooru's opponent. Tamanegi Siegward is an OC who probably won't be shown again. He was a construct pulled from my coworker's respective buttholes, but I realized that his Quirk, Onion Mist, would potentially give him and his team a decent advantage in the first two events. His name is derived from the Japanese word for "onion" as well as Siegward of Catarina from Dark Souls III.**

 **Finally, for those who may be curious, here is the lineup for the first round of the tournament:**

 **Hagakure Tooru v. Tamanegi Siegward**

 **Yaoyorozu Momo v. Tokoyami Fumikage**

 **Bakugou Katsuki v. Uraraka Ochako**

 **Kirishima Eijiro v. Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu**

 **Hatsume Mei v. Iida Tenya**

 **Kaminari Denki v. Shiozaki Ibara**

 **Midoriya Izuku v. Ashido Mina**

 **Todoroki Shouto v. Sero Hanta**

 **As stated in last chapter's notes, I won't be focusing too much on stuff that stays true to canon. You know what happens, and it's already been written a lot.**


End file.
